


Bent and Snarled

by WordThief



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, M/M, Multi, OOC-ness, Some bonding, a little respite, also anti will, atempted rape, it doesn't really go anywhere but just in case, join our ranks, the leo protection squad, this got a little away from me I'll admit, this is pretty anti calypso, you've been oficially warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-01-27 18:55:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 25
Words: 25,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21397039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordThief/pseuds/WordThief
Summary: I like the Omegaverse so much guys, perhaps too much for someone who also finds it deeply, deeply, disturbing; but maybe that’s exactly why.Anyhow, this is my attempt at playing around with it concerning my fave ship; at the risk of getting hate for the decisions I’ve made.
Relationships: Calypso/Leo Valdez (briefly), Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Leo Valdez & Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez & Original Female Character(s), Leo Valdez & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo & Hazel Levesque, Nico di Angelo & Original Female Character(s), Nico di Angelo & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Nico di Angelo/Leo Valdez, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace (briefly), Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 57
Kudos: 139





	1. Shall we begin?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I’m just gonna do this thing while maintaining the motto of ‘you can edit a bad book but not a blank page’; and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. I might be remembering my numbers wrong, because %20 feels like a lot for omegas; but oh well.

The world is divided into three groups, going by order of biggest amount of people, the first group are the betas. Betas make up %50 of the world’s population, divided %40 male and %60 female, their instincts are duller as are their scents, but they play the indispensable role of mediators between the other two groups.

Relationships between two betas vary from pair to pair, though relationships with other groups are considered to be better for them.

Next are the alphas, which make up %30 percent of the world’s populations; tending towards dominance per instinct, alphas are known to be volatile. Alphas are composed %70 males, and %30 females.

Relationships between two alphas tend towards switching, but some do have one of the alphas acting as submissive; however, this second option only works if both alphas agree on it, otherwise it can become rather dangerous. Though betas can make perfectly suitable partners for alphas, their healthiest option for relationship comes from the third group.

Finally, at the lowest amount, are the omegas; which make up %20 of the world’s population, and are divided %90 female and %10 male. Tending towards submissions, omegas are known to be gentle.

Relationships between two omegas also tend towards switching, in the rare event that they do work, as heats tend to synchronize; heats are also one of the main reasons why beta-omega relationships can fail, though it can be better avoided than with two omegas. The healthiest relationship an omega can have is with an alpha.

Of course, this doesn’t take into account anyone who, for reasons of identification or mental health, can’t quite fit into the mold.

.-.. . - …/-.. ---/- …. .. …

It starts with a heat. Though if someone were to be technical, and Nico felt like he had to considering who was involved, it actually started a day before 'the heat' TM.

It did start in Camp half-blood, during one of Nico’s visits to Will, with one Leo Valdez, bumping into him in his rush to get things ready. Normally, an omega like Leo, would’ve readied the necessary things to go through heat safely during the week prior to it; but that was because normally they knew exactly when it was meant to happen, normally being the key word.

As he apologizes, Leo explains that he forgot about the fact that heats synchronized, and given that he spends so much time with his girlfriend, this was only bound to happen. Nico has to admit he had momentarily forgotten that Leo was an omega, which is kind of weird, considering how rare male omegas are in the first place.

He forgives Leo with a nod, and receives a somewhat amused grin before the Latino is off again; he tries not to think about it much, but he does anyway. Not about Leo exactly, but rather about how many people forget Leo’s letter, and by extension, how many forget his.

Nico isn’t the stereotypical alpha by any measure, but then the only alpha he knows to fit that bill is Jason, and it’s only in appearance; but Nico, despite being perfectly comfortable with his second nature, doesn’t feel like anyone else acknowledges it.

He keeps himself busy throughout the day, a sort of uneasy feeling coiled tightly in his chest; it takes until he’s closing the door behind him at the Hades cabin, to realize he’s been avoiding Will. It makes sense, since Nico’s been feeling unsure of himself; but also…

There’s an uneasy feeling there that didn’t exist before, yet Nico can only wonder how it hadn’t, because this is sort of a big thing. But he’s sure if he actually talks it out with Will it’ll get easily resolved; after all, it’s not like they’re the first alpha couple to do things this way.

The problem is, of course, that he doesn’t get to talk to Will until the next day; and that the results are not what he expected, or wanted. So, again, it really does start with a heat, but it also starts with an un-removable doubt, a discovery, and the scent of campfire still lingering in his nostrils.

And as the heat hits full force, everything both Leo and Nico had built, unravels.


	2. Not in the plan

It happens in a way that seems accidental, though being completely honest, and Leo figure he owed the other that much, it was a planned thing; most of it at least. Leo had never meant to cross paths with Nico that day, but when it happened he hadn’t really given it much thought; how was he meant to know that encounter would be the catalyst for the chaos that would follow? Really.

It seemed like an accident because omega heats had the tendency of synchronizing, because Leo was an omega who was dating a goddess who happened to share the letter, and because he’d been busy making sure she would be safe and comfortable during her heat so it made sense for him to forget himself; and it was planned exactly because of that last thing. See, Leo was tired; he loved Calypso, honest, but even when their heats were still distanced, she never took care of him.

He should’ve done something about it sooner, really, but the thought of being left alone again, had stopped him; but the last time his heat had ended right as hers began. The anger with which she demanded to know why he hadn’t prepared anything, why he neglected her, set something alight in Leo, and the plan formed.

First was the lie, it was surprisingly easy to do, go through the motions of making everything perfect for Calypso, the hard part was ignoring his instincts to do something for himself; he compromised by promising to fix his nest the last day. He made sure everyone knew he was doing his job as boyfriend, forgoing scent blockers in his dedication, so that when his heat hit, there be no pretending like it did so out of the blue.

He needed someone else to point it out, to say it out loud, because if he did it they would somehow make it his fault that Calypso ignores an entire part of him, a very physical, very real part of him; even like this, even with Leo putting himself at risk so her inaction was obvious, there still was the possibility that they’d take her side once everything collapsed.

But it would collapse, and at least this way guaranteed at least one person would know the truth; he can deal with the consequences if he has that one person.

When he allowed himself a last moment run to get at the very least some water, he did not expect to walk into the one thing all omegas shrink away from. Fights between alphas weren’t rare, but they were still pretty dangerous, particularly to any omega onlookers, and especially if said omegas were close to their heat.

He can’t really help the sound he makes, just as neither alpha can help the way they whirl towards him; there’s a very scary moment where he thinks he’s gonna be attacked, where his instincts light up the way they do around monsters as he tries to think of the best way to get out of this alive, the next Will’s on the floor, and Nico is dragging him away. He’s not sure what’s going on, but Nico doesn’t feel dangerous anymore, which is maybe a little wild all things considered; he even manages to make them slow to a halt.

“I uh, really need to get to my nest Nico”

The alpha turns to look at him then, something off-set in his expression.

“Why are you out of it in the first place? Actually, you smell way too strong, how are you even walking?”

Leo feels kind of tingly with warmth.

“I don’t have water, I thought I would have enough time for a supply run”

Nico’s face goes through an array of expressions before he gives him a resolute nod.

“Where’s your nest? I’ll take you there and go grab some water for you”

Leo doesn’t think twice about telling him, about making himself vulnerable; he doesn’t really think about much really, because his head has unfocused, and his only working sense is scent. He does everything he’s told, and Nico must’ve realized his state because his tone is even and crystal clear; and Leo, who is completely out of it, decides to comment on the fact that he’s never been taken care of before.

Then there’s something blessedly cold pressed against him and then everything went black.

.-.. --- --- -.-/.-/.--. --- ...- / -.-. .... .- -. --. .

Nico’s at a loss, instinct had only worked enough to get Leo away from Will and to somewhere safe, but now that the adrenaline’s worn off, he comes to the quick realization that he’s got no idea how to deal with an omega on the cusp of their heat. And as if Nico’s lack of knowledge or experience in the matter wasn’t bad enough, Leo’s own lack of knowledge is just as worrying; his words are dangerous, particularly given their opposing natures, especially when Nico’s head is still spinning with Will’s words.

He doesn’t want to think about it, about the fight they had, about the fact that his first and longest relationship ended in such a terrible way; focusing on helping Leo is easier, Nico only needs some extra hands, and knows exactly how to get them.

Firstly, he makes sure Leo’s comfortable in the nest, as the omega passed out not too long ago, and then he finds a secluded corner and sends an iris message to Reyna. He’s aware that her relationship with Leo is a tense one, but she’s taken care of plenty omegas in the past, so she’s Nico’s best choice.

Reyna answer pretty quickly, despite the late hour, and Nico jumps right into explaining the situation he’s gotten himself on; Reyna assures him that he does have the time to pick up some water before Leo wakes up, and promises to get him anything else, something sharp in her voice.

“What’s wrong?”

She frowns.

“It’s just weird, even if he forgot about the synch, someone else should’ve noticed”

Nico’s been keeping a bit of info from her, but her expression makes him spill.

“He said something about never being taken care of”

Reyna’s face goes through an array of expressions before settling back into a resolute look.

“I’ll be there tomorrow to help you; for now, get some water and some pillows”

“Would the extra ones in my cabin work?”

Reyna seems to think about it for a second before nodding.

“They should, I’m gonna go now so I can get some stuff on my end, see you in the morning”

Nico nods and the image fades; he chances one glance to the unconscious form in the make shift nest, before he sinks into a shadow. He works quickly, just in case, getting a big bottle as opposed to a bunch of smaller ones, and trying to touch the pillows as little as possible; he knows just enough not to leave his scent on anything, least it has a bad effect on Leo.

It’s gonna be a long night.


	3. To be cared for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The scent is based on eating habits (Nico does a lot of McDonalds in cannon, ofc he smells like fried food; on the other hand, Leo always caries mints with him), their godly parent (pomegranates for Nico)/their powers (campfire for Leo), and the third thing bc rule of three (metal vs coffee).

The world comes in and out of focus a few times, enough for Leo to register a few changes to his last-minute nest; the first is the water, he has a fuzzy memory of wonderfully cold hands helping him down a good few gulps of it, then there’s the extra softness which he re-positions every now and then, and lastly there’s the very fain but persistently lingering scent of whoever is helping him.

Something like coffee, fried food, and a fruit Leo can’t name by scent, coupled with the unmistakable undertone of Alpha. Instinctually, Leo wants to get closer to it, cover himself on it, drown in it; logistically, he’s very glad with the alpha for keeping his distance.

As he goes in and out of consciousness, Leo makes the connection that the alpha helping him is most definitely Nico; this soothes some of his concerns, and would raise new ones if Leo wasn’t completely out of it. Once the first wave goes, he’ll have time to worry about the implications of Nico being there with him, but for now, Leo’s lost to the Heat.

\- .... . / .-.. . --- / .--. .-. --- - . -.-. - .. --- -. / ... --.- ..- .- -..

When Reyna enters the nest with Nico, they find Leo curled into a ball, dark grey blanket twisted around him, hugging part of a pillow he’s also resting his head on. His hair is a mess, he’s covered in sweat, and the room reeks of him; like campfire, metal, and peppermint, with the sweet aftertaste of omega.

As a beta, Reyna is unaffected by the scent; but she feels beyond proud of Nico for surviving an entire night close to him, the amount of self-restrain he’d most likely needed was nothing to joke about.

Reyna had thought maybe Nico had been exaggerating, but now that she saw this it was obvious, not only that Leo hadn’t prepared, but also that no one other than Nico had thought to help. He wasn’t her favorite person, but if he’d been telling the truth about being neglected when he most needed help, then she was going to raise hell for him; and then make sure it never happened again.

The flare of protectiveness surprises her a little, but it’s not particularly weird in context; after all, Leo isn’t the first omega she’s seen in this situation. It hurts every time, because omegas are naturally trusting, and those who go through this sort of thing always end up resentful over that trait; she wonders how many times Leo was ignored, that it became possible for him to ignore himself.

Nico, who has his own letter-related problems, is reluctant to stay too far from the nest; it takes Reyna a bit to recognize it what it is. Apparently, Nico and her are on the same track here; once Leo’s heat is done, they’re going to have words with the others, so it’s good to know Nico will stand at her side.

\- .... . -.-- / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / ..-. .. --. .... - / -.-- --- ..-

The nest room is a sauna according to Reyna, to Nico it’s just nicely warm, but he does run extremely cold, so he doesn’t tell her. It’s weird seeing Leo like this, the omega is very quiet, as opposed to his general loudness, and extremely obedient when they have to make him eat and drink.

Reyna takes care of making sure Leo has food and water, Nico has to do the work of finding some more pillows and blankets, which is how Hazel and Frank get involved. Maybe Nico should’ve gotten the things back at Camp Half-Blood, but it felt wrong, so he shadow-travelled to Camp Jupiter; Hazel has a similar reaction to what’s happening than Reyna, while Frank has to excuse himself for a moment, he returns half an hour later with an actual basket full of pillows and blankets.

Hazel makes him promise he’ll tell them when Leo gets better, so she can join the confrontation party, something fierce in her eyes; and it’s easy to remember just how much she cares for Leo. Nico’s sure that had Hazel been anywhere close to the omega before this, Leo would’ve had a proper nest a lot sooner; Reyna insists that people should’ve noticed Leo approaching his heat, and Nico’s going to trust her experience here.

It makes him a little angry, because Leo’s supposed to have people who care about him, friends; so how come no one else has come to check on him? He can’t think about it right now, has to concentrate on making sure Leo doesn’t hurt himself; when this is over he’ll get his answers.


	4. Endearing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna join the Leo protection squad clap your hands [clap, clap]  
If you wanna join the Leo protection squad clap your hands [clap, clap]  
If you think this is a shit situation, want to see him being cared for  
Or if you simply want him happy clap your hands [clap, clap]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was painful to write.

The first wave finishes a lot smoother than it started, and the first thing Leo does with his regained consciousness is down the remaining of the water bottle placed nearby and set off to work on his nest; he hopes whoever gave him the pillows and blankets doesn’t mind them returning heavily scented. Nesting is an extremely soothing process, it’s even better when he manages to convince Nico, who had just arrived with some food, to help him out; and then Reyna too when she pops up.

Leo doesn’t think about them being there too much, happy to have someone with him.

“You’re chirping”

Leo is also smiling, even as he turns to Reyna, who he’d never thought would feel this comfortable to be around.

“I’ve never done this with other people before, it’s fun”

The look she gives him is impossible to decipher; he notes that she’s sweating.

“You can stand back if you need though, I know I heat up a room in a second when I’m like this”

“Because of the fire, right?”

He turns to Nico, who he’d been trying not to pay too much attention to, even if he feels safer than makes sense; he seems unaffected, and Leo nods wordlessly, the alpha rubs a hand at the back of his neck.

“I do the exact opposite during my ruts”

Leo smiles then, because it’s nice to have someone get it, sort of.

\- .-. -.-- .. -. --. / - --- / -- .- -.- . / - .... .. ... / ... --- ..-. -

Leo acts as though he’s been subdued, even going as far as hesitating with his movements on occasion; and it’s such a contrast to how he is normally, but it also makes his second nature impossible to deny, because he’s acting like an omega. Nico wonders if maybe this is the real Leo, if the entire situation has made him lower his walls just enough for it to slip out; it makes the anger in his chest worsen.

He tries to push it down, until he stumbles into Piper, and she has the gall to ask him if he’s seen Leo; he kind of hates her for the entirety of a minute, because honestly, what the fuck? But Reyna would kill him if she found out he went off on Piper without her, Hazel too; so he settles for a little pettiness.

“Building a nest”

The way her expression changes is a revelation, and though Reyna will not be happy to be proven right in this instance, it’s enough for Nico to feel justified.

“He didn’t- that why he wasn’t wearing scent blockers!”

Ok, he’s a little lost; Piper, who doesn’t seem to notice, has a tone in her voice Nico doesn’t particularly care for.

“He’s been running around gathering things for Calypso, all while reeking”

The alpha sends a quick apology to the girls in his mind, but his patience has thinned.

“Why didn’t you say something to him?”

Why is it that it’s Nico and Reyna, who aren’t close to Leo, are the ones actually taking care of the omega? It’s kind of ridiculous really, do either of them even like Leo as a person?

Pipper looks as though Nico has struck her, weirdly, seeing that feels a little like revenge.

.--. .-. --- --. .-. . ... ... / .. ... / .--. .-. --- --. .-. . ... ... / .. ... / .--. .-. --- --. .-. . ... ...

Reyna, who’s helped her fair share of omegas in heat, is more than prepared for when Leo’s mind catches back up to him and he breaks down; it puts her entire view of him upside down. He shakes in her arms as he confesses about feeling like he’ll never be enough, worthless, like left overs nobody want; she’s pretty sure that last bit got lost in translation.

He rambles, and it sort of breaks her heart, because he makes everything he’s done, everything he’s achieved, sound like nothing more than lucky strikes, which is… Reyna remembers the Argo II acutely, remembers her first thought upon seeing it; imposing like only war machines could be, she’d been astounded when she met the mind behind it, even as anger coiled at her throat.

Listening to Leo puts that first meeting in a very familiar perspective, because Reyna knows what it’s like to have her agency taken from her, it makes her think of all the girls she helped trap in the island, and about the damages the Argo II caused to her home; and the similarities.

She’s very careful with him, as she reassures, and forgives, and comforts; he falls asleep in her arms, and she wonders when he last had a proper rest. Nico looks as agitated as she feels when he re-appears, but he unspools when he sees them; his voice is carefully soft as he speaks.

“I bumped into Pipper”

His eyes are only on Leo’s sleeping form; she doesn’t blame him.

“How that go?”

He bits his lip.

“You were right; they knew”

Reyna has to put a lot of effort not to explode right there and then; Nico has his hands clenched into fists, and there’s a sleeping omega to worry about. The alpha seems to land to the same conclusion as her because he takes a deep breath and looks elsewhere.

“She’s not allowed near him”

His tone startles her a little, because it’s rare for him to lean into his letter, but it isn’t an impossible request, nor one Reyna disagrees with.

“Ok”


	5. Gay rollercoaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I think I should be done stage-setting soon-ish, and then we can really get going. Why is it so hard for me to write confrontations?   
There’s so little content in the ship tag, I’ve been pouring on other otps of mine for inspiration. I don’t know enough about background characters in the Riordan-verse, so I made an OC to avoid even more problems.

It happened during an overcast night, rare as those nights were during the summer, it made the outside nearly pitch black if not for the soft glow of torches outside each cabin, still early enough that no one would get in trouble for it. If asked about it, neither would be able to tell you how they managed to get alone, far from any witnesses, or so they thought.

First there’s the explanation, more like rambling, before Nico can actually say what he wants to.

“I just want to have a little control sometimes”

Will frowns, and had Nico been any other letter, he would’ve noticed the way his scent changed a lot quicker.

“We have a system”

Nico scoffs.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Will’s tone changes.

“You’re not an alpha Nico, you wouldn’t know the first thing about taking the lead”

It’s amazing how quickly he loses his temper, how easy it is for him to attack someone who had mattered so much just a moment ago, and how effortless it was for that to break. Things don’t escalate too much, though if allowed to they would’ve, because then the room is filled with the tell-tale scent of an omega entering heat; and there’s Leo.

In truth, it only takes a few beats for Nico to make his move, but it feels like a lot longer; all he knows is that he’s lost all trust in Will, and that Leo’s in danger by proxy. He’s moving before he can think much further than that, before he can stop and realize he knows nothing about heats, much less helping someone through one; he doesn’t want to hurt Leo, particularly when he just pulled him away from another alpha.

The following events are hectic, and Nico gets swooped into the entire ordeal, too busy to stop and maybe get some closure, preferably with someone to mediate. He catches sight of Will making out with some other camper during one of his nightly runs, he doesn’t stop to try figuring out who it is, instead hurrying his pace towards the bunker, towards Leo’s nest.

There’s a moment where he dares be relieved that at least they are in the same page, kind of, not that he has to worry about that any time soon; not until they solve the Leo debacle.

.. -.. -.- / ..-. . .-.. - / --- -.- .. ... ....

Selah Packard wished her first actual conversation with the extremely pretty Roman demigoddess had happened under better circumstances; but the fates do not smile upon her. Upon the request of Nyssa, who is scared of the very imposing beta, she’s headed towards Bunker 9, armed with a basket of treats and potions.

As a child of Hecate, she had a good hand at most things magical, as an omega, she had the benefit of experience; the basket was a peace offering. She hoped Reyna, and that was a beautiful name for an equally beautiful girl, wouldn’t be offended by anything she’d chosen.

The treats were safe, she knew for a fact, even the pickiest omega would be hard-pressed to pass up on sweets during their heat; and after a little digging, she was sure Leo would appreciate her choices. The potions are a bit of a tossup, really, but she’s certain Leo will appreciate them too, if they get through the check; which is a bit of a funny mental image to have.

Selah takes another deep breath to steady herself, making sure her posture’s good, and that she looks non-threatening; she wants to cause a good impression, sure, but she wants to actually get her basket to the heat-sick omega just a bit more.

Sharp brown eyes fall on her, and she has to suppress a shiver at their intensity; Selah is literally so very weak. She makes an internal prayer to her mother for strength, and then to Aphrodite for good luck.

“Hi, hello, I’m Selah, uhm, child of Hecate and one of 8 omegas at camp”

She has to look away from those eyes, she wonders if she’s analyzing her, with her short messy hair that’s too light to be brown but too dark to be blonde, wonders what kind of picture she paints in her clothes, ends fried and colorless spots everywhere. She feels kind of ridiculous, but she’s a girl on a mission damn it!

“I saw you and your friend getting things for Leo, so I wanted to help out, ern, it’s not all that much but here”

She shoves the basket forward, but feels hands wrap around hers instead and when she looks, she finds herself dangerously close to the beta; whoever decided brown eyes were anything other than beautiful probably had the same dried-earth brown as Selah and was a jealous bitch about it.

“You can give them to him yourself”

Now, normally, Selah would be immediately out of commission after something like this, normally being the key word. The reason Selah is a lot more alert than usual, is that the boy who’s been helping Leo together with Reyna is Nico di Angelo, one of 10 alphas at camp, and like, honestly a dude with a bad rep; so Selah does not want to antagonize him.

“Are you sure?”

Reyna smiles, and Selah thanks her mom and every love-related deity for the sight.

“We could use the help of an omega”

How is this her life?


	6. Like light seeping through.

Though omega heats tend to sync, there are a few exceptions, Reyna knows because she’s had help from omegas here and there; she’s not sure if this girl is an example, but she does react accordingly. It’s always a whole thing, seeing the way an omega changes when faced with someone in need, particularly if they already knew the person.

Selah, who had looked unsure outside, chirped as soon as she saw Leo, entire body going soft, as she walked carefully to him; she sets the basket down at her right side, and reaches out. Leo hesitates at first, which is yet more proof that he wasn’t lying about never getting help through heats, but eventually allows her to touch him, all but purring as Selah starts grooming him.

Reyna leans into a side wall, watching the exchange, it’s clear how soothing it is for both omegas, how it seems to bring Leo out of his head little by little, until he’s smiling lazily.

“Hi Selah”

His voice is quiet and purr-laced, Reyna wishes Nico were here to hear it.

“Hi Leo, I brought you some stuff”

He seems to perk up at this, Selah pulls away from him with a chuckle, before pulling the basket into his view.

“Ok, first, potions, I made these for you specifically”

She pulls out the flask with the white ribbon first, Reyna had wondered what the flasks were.

“This one’s to regulate your temperature, so you don’t set this lovely nest of yours on fire”

Leo flushes as he takes it, Selah puts two fingers on her jaw, right by her ear.

“You’ll need someone else to give it to you, since you should take it right before the wave hits”

Leo whirls toward Reyna, who straightens her posture out of instinct; Selah follows his line of sight and smiles at her.

“You might have to hold him down, I couldn’t give it a good taste without chancing side-effects”

Leo sends Selah a glare, flush having reached his ears, Reyna finds it amusing.

“I’ll manage”

Selah smiles again, eyes squinting at the sides, and then pulls the other flask out of the basket.

“This one’s uh…”

She trails off, eyes falling on Reyna before she turns a pretty pink and promptly looks away, and leans closer to Leo so she can whisper to him, clearly finding whatever it is embarrassing. Leo lets out a loud laugh, shoving her off.

“He’s not!”

Selah makes a face.

“So you’re not swimming in his scent right now”

Leo pounces at her with a flustered chirp, as they go down into the nest bed, Reyna finds herself no longer the only viewer. Nico is quiet at her side, eyes only on the play-fight that’s happening in front of them.

Eventually, Leo merges victorious from the little scuffle, and notices the new person in the nest, absolutely beaming at the alpha.

“Nico!”

Selah makes a mock mewl and gets her mouth covered by a very flustered Leo. It’s kind of adorable, Reyna will admit, and she’s not the only one to think so.

-.. .. -../- …. .- -/.. -./-.-. .-.. .- … …

Nico walks into a scene that, once upon a different time, would’ve caused him to turn away. As it is, the sight of Leo messing around with another omega, laughing freely, brings him an immense feeling of warmth. He also gets a small ping of protectiveness, but the stranger is clearly having a positive effect on Leo, so he swallows it down.

The Latino bounces into his feet, followed by the stranger in a flurry as they fret; Leo seems unbothered, crossing the way to Nico, laugh-laced smile still resting on his lips. Nico gets a sort of feeling he’s unsure of, as mirth-bright brown eyes look at him, but then the stranger makes it to them and promptly breaks the silence.

“Hi, I’m Selah Packard, omega daughter of Hecate”

She’s giving him a pointed look; Nico finds himself standing taller.

“Nico di Angelo, alpha son of Hades”

She turns to Leo with an entire look, the male omega flushes slightly and frowns.

“No Selah”

She makes a motion with her hands.

“Leo-”

“No, he’s just being good to me, nothing more”

Nico’s pretty sure he’s gone red at finally realizing what’s happening, Reyna chuckles at his side; he should’ve expected this, really. Selah turns to level him with sharp light brown eyes, before she lets out a sigh.

“Fine, I’ll trust you”

She says it mostly to Leo, which is fair, but her tone carries an edge of threat to it; Nico had never planned on doing anything to harm Leo, but he does feel successfully intimidated. The two omegas go back to the center of the nest, to pour over the contents of the basket laying on the floor; Nico turns his attention to Reyna, who motions him to follow her outside, and with one last look at Leo and his friend, Nico does.


	7. Rushing towards an ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We make a time-jump at the beginning, you didn’t miss anything vis-à-vis Reyna and Nico talking outside. I have a deep respect for Riordan and his craft, I also think some of his characters deserved better.

The second wave is a lot scarier than the first, though it is also the last part of the heat, because it lasts longer and hits harder; Leo hadn’t really thought about it when he cooked his plan, which is a huge oversight considering being caught unprepared by the second wave of heat would’ve been life threatening. He does not say this out loud, Nico and Reyna had managed to give him everything for a suitable nest, and with Selah’s temperature potion, he’s not in danger anymore; though he’s sure Selah will tell the other two about it, because she now worries about Leo.

He has a little time still, enough so that he gets to relax a little; he asks Reyna if he could maybe get showered and changed, if only to lessen his free time some, and luckily Selah vouches for it being a good idea.

“You’re supposed to clean up after each wave, though it isn’t always possible”

Reyna sighs.

“I’m aware, just worried about the scent attracting some unwanted attention”

Dread brushes past Leo’s back, making him shiver.

“Point made”

Selah tuts at him, then smiles ruefully.

“He could do it if someone watched over him, like a bodyguard”

Leo knows where she’s going with this, but Reyna is the one to actually put it in words.

“We should ask Nico then”

He knows he’s gone red, part of it is just natural embarrassment over his situation, over having to be accompanied to the showers; part of it might or might not have to do with Leo having a small crush on the alpha, which is strictly situational really, so it shouldn’t count.

“Ask me what?”

Selah is the only one startled by Nico’s sudden appearance, granted, Reyna and Leo both have first-hand experience with shadow-travel, as well as Nico in general. Leo tries not to sound too flustered.

“I wanted to shower, both because I’m gross and to kill time, but it’s risky”

Nico makes a face.

“Can’t be riskier than leaving you with nothing to do”

Leo’s heart might or might not skip at that, no one will ever know. Selah claps her hands with a smile.

“Perfect, you can be Leo’s bodyguard”

Leo thinks this further proves the fates have it out for him, really, he wants a refund.

\- .... . / ..-. .- - . ... / -.-. .- -.-. -.- .-.. . / .. -. / - .... . / -.. .. ... - .- -. -.-. .

Now that there’s a concrete plan for the confrontation TM, Nico has been tasked with filling Leo in; so they’re left to themselves, as per Selah’s suggestion. Selah has taken over as the most experienced, much to Nico’s amusement, since he’s never seen Reyna look so flustered as someone told her what to do, never seen her look so at ease; having someone else take the lead was doing wonders apparently, so Selah was absolutely ok by him.

Leo looks skittish, eyes flying all around the nest like he’s making extra sure they’re alone. He seems scared, but also hopeful; and it strikes a chord in Nico.

“I can make it so we’re separate from everything”

It’s not something he’s ever done with someone else, or rather not with someone alive, but he hasn’t used his powers at all since he transported Leo to the nest that first time; so he offers. Leo seems to weight his offer for a moment, and then he sighs and nods.

“I need to tell someone”

There’s something unsaid there, something Nico feels at his core, startlingly familiar; so he moves closer to the omega, and calls the shadows around them. The last time he used the cocoon, he was hiding, haggard and exhausted from surviving Tartarus; it was the reason he ended up in the jar, as opposed to killed by some other monster.

He manages to maintain it evenly, even as Leo lights up his fingers, or maybe particularly because of the added shadows the fire creates. Despite bringing the fire to make seeing possible, Leo pointedly looks at his feet, his expression is still crystal clear for Nico; a mixture of fear and regret.

“It wasn’t an accident”

His voice is soft, not a whisper, but soft enough that if Nico wasn’t this close he wouldn’t have heard. Leo takes his silence as sign to push forwards.

“Well, not completely, or, it wasn’t supposed to be, really, because-”

It dawns on him what Leo’s talking about, and remembers their encounter, and how a single thought can change everything; so he doesn’t blame him.

“You thought someone would stop you”

Leo looks at him then, nodding slowly, biting his lip.

“I just… realized my relationship with Calypso wasn’t the healthiest, that I was doing all the work”

He makes a motion with his other hand, the one that isn’t on fire.

“So I thought I had to get other people to see that, because otherwise everyone would take her side if we broke up”

Nico understood then, it wasn’t just that they never helped him with a heat, but also that Leo didn’t trust them to help him period, and that was…

If he really thought about it, he had noticed it, how the others played hot-potato with Leo even before the whole death cure thing, how Leo kept trying to gain even a bit of attention only for it to backfire every time. Nico hadn’t been Leo’s friend back then, but he remembers sarcastic quips, and worry shared, and tentative trust; and it’s only now that he realized it wasn’t because of him, but because of them.

“Ok, I think you should tell the girls, but I haven’t changed my mind”

The cocoon falls around them as he says this, and he gets to see in full focus how Leo’s expression changes, smiling at Nico like he can’t quite believe the alpha is real. Something twists inside him, at the honesty and fervor in those words, and at the effect they’ve had on the omega.


	8. Swash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s finals starting next week, and I’m stressed. In the Spanish version it’s a fountain, I’m pretty sure, it’s been a while since I read the books.

The second wave hits like falling off a flying ship into a water fountain, Leo would know, as he’s done that exact thing; also, given that he is the one going through it. Selah is the first one at his side, which is a good thing, because after telling everyone the truth, Nico’s been a lot more comfortable with getting close; normally Leo doesn’t mind it, actually it is because he very much likes it that it’s better that the alpha kept his distance right now.

Instincts are instincts and whatnot, but Leo would’ve been beyond embarrassed if he tried to cuddle into Nico the way he does with Selah; no one would’ve said anything about it, but still. His fellow omega is very soothing as she guides him into a laying position within the many pillows the group has acquired for him.

Reyna is the next one to approach him, to make sure he drinks and eats, the treats Selah left him are easier on his stomach than full dishes, which is exactly why she brought them; Leo is vaguely aware of the sun coming in and out of sight, of the light in the nest being turned on and off, but time is out of his grasp.

The wave passes like this, with Reyna and Selah alternating, and sometimes, if Leo’s really lucky, Nico will approach; he never stays long enough for it to take a toll, but he’s wonderfully cold against Leo’s feverish skin, so he relishes those few interactions. He can’t tell if he does or says anything, mind only coming to him in flashes, only recognizing who’s taking care of him by their scent; the world has been reduced to feelings.

Had he been mated, or courting, or whatever other third thing, with an alpha, the second wave would’ve been just like the first; dizzying but otherwise inoffensive. As it is, already considering his only relationship ended, it drags him down into an inferno; and he thanks the gods that Selah had thought to give him something to cool his fire, because he would’ve turned everything to ash.

-.. .. -../… --- -- . -… --- -.. -.--/… .- -.--/.--. --- …-/-.-. …. .- -. --. .

Selah cannot believe this, and she also can’t share it with anyone, because no one in their right mind would believe this; she’s been told curses don’t work unless you feel them, which is very Harry Potter, but now she knows it’s actually true. Her veins feel like scalding liquid, as she stares down at one Will Solace.

Selah, who despite what her powers are screaming at her, knows better than to try fighting an alpha; starts considering her choices for how to deal with this. She could make a loud noise and get Reyna outside, or she could distract Will until the change of guard in a few minutes, and let Nico deal with him.

She doesn’t want Solace anywhere near Leo, and she’s got a feeling it’s better to keep him away from Nico too; so she takes a deep breath, and gathers every last inch of omega in her being in order to let out a very loud, and probably high pitched, distressed mewl. The response in immediate, Solace’s whole face shifts, and Selah feels Reyna reaching her side; it’s slightly amusing, just how scared the alpha looks, but Selah pushes it all the way down, to deal with later.

Solace has the audacity to smile, hands lifted in mock surrender.

“Calm down, I’m staying right here, I just need to talk to Nico”

Reyna takes a step forward and slightly in front of Selah, which, considering she actually knows the guy, makes the small feeling Selah had increase tenfold.

“He’s not here”

Will lets out this weird sound that makes every nerve in Selah’s body stand on edge in the worst way possible.

“Odd that you won’t let me close when the nest is scented, things got too heated?”

Reyna actually snarls at him, which should not be hot in this circumstances but Selah’s stablished herself as a disaster lesbian, so here she is. Solace, idiot that he apparently is, keeps talking.

“Tell him not to come crying to me when that omega leaves him for a real alpha”

Selah wants to throttle him, and Reyna looks like she’s thinking the same thing, but there’s a loud whine, and Solace is already leaving; so she makes the smart choice, takes Reyna by the arm, and pulls her into the nest. They can deal with Solace later, after they have a long talk with Leo’s ‘friends’; after the Latino’s heat ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had the very big realization that there are only two instances of Will Solace playing a part on the plot that I can actually remember; which means I know jack shit about his personality. I’m only making him a dick because I’m pissed at ppl tagging posts with things they aren’t; if I wanted your ship I would’ve searched for it! Stop posting in other ppls tags!


	9. Ripping the band aid off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been procrastinating this because I don’t like confrontations (also exams but I can excuse that), but here we go regardless. So, I wrote it with dialogue only, have fun ;)

Nico watches carefully over Leo as he makes his way out of the nest, he’s clearly still dazed but had stubbornly insisted they do this today; which, Nico understood, as he also wanted this to be over with, to finally get some answers. He sticks close to the omega as they make the trek towards the showers, for Leo to get rid of the remaining scent still stuck to him; Selah had told them things would go smoother if he didn’t smell like hormones and sweat.

He can’t help but wonder how things will change after today, Leo’s been uncharacteristically quiet at his side, face set into a serious expression; only talking in whispered words that were most likely not meant to be said out loud.

“It’s my own fault”

Nico scoffs, and his tongue gets ahead of him.

“Maybe, but they knew, and they chose not to do anything”

Leo frowns at him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Nico sighs.

“Pipper was looking for you, and when I told her what was going on she said she’d noticed your scent”

Leo looks as though he’s been struck, face completely pale, arms crossing softly, like he’s hugging himself.

“Oh”

Nico crumbles a little.

“Sorry, I know it wasn’t what you wanted to hear”

Leo shakes his head, releasing his hold and taking a deep breath.

“No, I’m glad you told me”

Then he turns around and heads inside the bathroom with a decided stride; Nico follows him dutifully.

\--- -.-/--. --- - - .-/-.. ---/- …. .. …

They gather in Zeus’ fist, with permission, while the other campers are busy with activities. It’s a little worrying, being here when facing against the child of Jupiter, the alpha child of Jupiter; Selah thinks she’s justifiably wary.

There’s also the Aphrodite cabin head, Pipper, whom up to now, Selah had only ever heard of through her ow cabin’s head. Selah worries about her just as much, as her ability to charmspeak puts her on level with any alpha; but she is prepared, should either her of her boyfriend try to command Leo, or herself.

She settles, instead, for keeping her eyes on the omega in between them; goddess or not, Calypso is by far the safest choice in the opposing group. Selah takes a moment to think her pretty, but then her eyes stray to her neck; the shining copper stands oddly against her skin, and the oval shaped front latch has no design to it.

Collars are, to omegas, a precious thing to possess, they tell the world that said omegas are taken care off; so it isn’t the fact that Calypso has one that bothers Selah, but the fact that Leo doesn’t. He’s got nothing to show that he’s in a relationship, and though Selah picks apart her memories, she can’t remember him ever having one.

It says a lot about the way their relationship has worked, and it lights a fire on Selah’s heart, because it puts everything Leo’s told them in perspective. How often was he expected to drop everything for someone who wouldn’t lift a pinky for him in return? How long has she gone completely ignoring his nature?

Leo looks almost small at her side, even though there isn’t that much of a height difference, and she knows she isn’t the only one who’s had their protective instincts flare up upon seeing his state. Nico stays close to him, like they’ve agreed, ready to take Leo away should things get ugly.

.-- … -.--/ .. …/- …. .. ../… ---/…. .- .-. -..

“Had fun with the _heat_ boys?”

“Pipper, what the fuck?”

“I’m not talking to you Reyna”

“You want to know how my heat went?! I wasn’t prepared, I had only a blanket and pillow and zero water, I almost got tangled into a fight between alphas, and if it wasn’t for Selah I would’ve burned alive during the second wave!”

“Leo”

“But that doesn’t matter, does it? No! My priority should be Calypso, I spent the entire week before I fell making sure she would survive her heat!”

“So it’s my fault you can’t take care of yourself?”

“We’re supposed to care for each other, that’s how it’s meant to work, but you’ve never even tried to help me during a heat, not once”

“You-”

“None of you! I’ve spent every fucking heat since I presented on my own! And I’ve risked my life every time, even when I was ready; but you don’t even care to ask me about it”

“_Calm down_”

“How fucking dare you!”

“He’s on fire!”

“So you force yourself on him? How the fuck is that a good call?”

“I-”

“Hey, Leo, sweetie, are you present?”

“…”

“That’s a no, Nico?”

“Yeah, I got him”

“We’ll catch up”


	10. Slow starter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi, hello, the seeds are sprouting. I made the boys cuddle and flustered my goddamned self, as you do.

Nico hadn’t known what he’d expected of the confrontation, but not once had he considered Pipper to use her charmspeak on Leo; maybe he’s biased, but he sides with Selah’s take on the whole thing. It has a lot to do with Nico’s stance on alpha commands, but it may also have a little to do with how he feels about this whole thing.

He can’t deny that Leo’s situation strikes a chord with him, but there’s more to it than that; in the time that’s passed, Nico’s come to care for Leo.

So the worry that coils in his chest at the omega’s unresponsive state was to be expected, but the anger he feels towards the three people in front of him is a surprise; it’s a good thing that Selah has him shadow travelling away with Leo, least they want for things to get physical. Leo finally snaps out of his state once they’re back at the Bunker, only to immediately collapse into Nico with a sob.

The rush of protectiveness he gets is stronger than any he’s felt before, and he coaxes the omega inside closed walls, so they can sit on the remains of the nest; it’s instinctual, really, but he wouldn’t know how to help by himself, so he’s not complaining. It’s kind of startling, how warm Leo still is; Nico kind of wants to melt into it. 

Eventually, the crying ceases, to be replaced by slow, even breathing, and Nico resigns himself to his new role as Leo’s pillow. It’s gonna be beyond embarrassing when the girls come back, but Nico’s warm, and honestly really fucking comfortable, so he decides to follow Leo’s example; first he moves so they’re both laying down, though, just to be safe.

.-- . .----. .-.. .-../-… ./-… .- -.-. -.-

Reyna was beyond glad Nico had taken Leo away, as she and Selah make their way back to the bunker, she holds a ruined collar. It’s clear that it was handmade, something outside of Leo’s expertise for sure, it explains why the metal took such a beating from being thrown; it’s still beautiful in its own way, which speaks of Leo’s abilities.

Selah is quiet at her side, glancing at the object with a mixture of sadness and offense; which is to be expected, considering how important collars were for omegas. At least they now have a little breathing time while Pipper and Jason deal with getting Calypso away from camp; Reyna’s already talked to Frank, and they’ve both agreed that it’s better to keep her at Jupiter.

She’s not exactly happy about it, but it’ll keep her away from Leo for the time being, and it’s not like they could set her loose in the mortal world, not without some serious prep beforehand. Reyna knows she’ll have to deal with that eventually, but she might take a few more days here first.

The bunker has only the first few lights on, casting the more open half of it in a dim light; it’s more than enough to make out the figures laying in what little’s left of the nest. Selah makes a soft chirp at her side, and when Reyna looks she has an equally soft look on her face.

“That’s adorable”

It really is; they are nearly tangled together, the alpha curled protectively around Leo, who has a faint smile, and she can barely remember the last time she saw Nico this peaceful. Were she anything other than a beta, she too would’ve chirped at the sight.

“We should come back for them at dinnertime”

Selah turns to her with that same soft smile, features almost glowing for all the good the light’s doing.

“Yeah”

Oh.


	11. Safe and Settled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote 2 (two) tender moments last chapter, and malfunctioned. I am literally so weak, send help (or sympathize with me on the comments, whichever).

Leo can’t even remember the last time he’s woken up not only feeling well rested, but also feeling this… safe.

Nico is wonderfully cold, even though Leo can’t tell where one of them ends and the other begins, which is a whole thing; mostly, though, Leo kind of wants to stay like this forever.

That’s bad, right? Like, there’s no way this ends well for him; he should pull away, save himself the hurt when Nico wakes up and pushes him away. The only reason this happened was that Leo had broken and Nico was the only one there to catch him; it was just the son of hades being the good person he was.

Leo sighs, nose catching the other’s scent, stronger than he’s ever smelt it; it makes sense given how close they are, that doesn’t mean it has no effect on Leo. He’s an omega, being this close to an alpha, specially one that’s holding him, it does things to him; like make him want to sink into Nico with a happy purr, but that would only make things worse really.

He has to fight his inner omega in order to finally make a move of any sort, trying to get out of their little tangle without waking Nico; there’s a few close calls with the alpha making displeased grunts in his sleep, but Leo somehow manages. He gets a whole second to breathe in relief before Nico jumps up with a gasp, eyes flying around the room before they fall on Leo; and it’s unfair that the way he un-tenses immediately has such an effect on the omega.

A part of Leo wants to keep himself away, maybe go as far as getting out and avoid Nico for the foreseeable future; but Nico’s panting in front of him, and his eyes still look glazed, so he heeds the other part of him. It’s only gotten him in trouble before, and seems fated to keep doing so, but Leo’s weak; and so when Nico reaches for him, the omega meets him halfway.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you”

Nico shakes his head, and his hands tremble where they’re holding Leo.

“I had a nightmare”

Leo can tell, just like he can give a good guess as to what it was about; and it’s fucked up how warm he feels at knowing Nico worries for him so. It’s probably a terrible idea to lean closer and chirp at Nico, particularly considering Leo’s spiraling emotions concerning the alpha; but he does so anyway, like a fool.

Nico relaxes against him with a sigh, which is wholly unfair, really, Leo’s trying really hard not to give himself away here. Like, he thought his attraction to Nico was a heat induced thing; but then…

He’s always noticed the alpha, one way or another, always been particularly aware of him, eyes trailing after him; he’d thought it wariness, maybe curiosity, never this. Not that realizing it sooner would’ve helped anything, but Leo couldn’t help but wonder just when these feelings had started; they felt old, settled, as though he’d felt them for a while.

\- .... .- -/.-- .- .../--. .- -.--

Selah has done the trek to the bunker at dark a few times now, that does not mean it’s gotten any less eerie; she’s beyond glad that Reyna’s walking with her. Her discomfort must have slipped into her scent, because Reyna walks a lot closer than she’s ever had; and while it does make the omega feel very safe, it also does things to her poor lesbian heart.

Now that she doesn’t have Leo to worry about, Selah has way too much time to be distracted by her crush. She tries not to be, really, because what if she’s caught staring? What then?

Luckily for her, they make it to the bunker, which now is lit up from inside; as they walk in they find Leo working with something on the floor, across from Nico who’s watching him intently. They are both sitting crisscross, which makes them look a lot closer to their actual age; Leo lifts his head, probably to explain something about what he’s messing with, when he notices them there.

“Hi girls”

She watches Reyna tense at her side, and knows immediately what’s about to happen; still she doesn’t stop her as she reaches into her pocket and pulls the collar out, Leo deserves to know.

“This is yours”

Selah turns again, to watch as Leo swallows and gets on his feet, Nico is quick to follow him, and his expression is similar to the one Reyna had when Calypso threw the thing at them. Leo grabs it with shaky hands, looking lost.

“So it’s really over, huh?”

Selah takes a step forward, but doesn’t reach for Leo, not knowing if it would even help.

“Yeah, is that ok?”

Leo makes a few false starts and then finally shakes his head, a resolute look as he clenches what’s left of the collar in his fist, fire covering him for but a moment.

“It will be”

He throws the now crumpled piece of metal into a nearby trashcan, and then smiles at them.

“Has dinner passed yet? I’m starving”

Selah finds it a little wonderful, how all three of them seem unable to do anything but smile right back at Leo; it feels sort of like a connection.


	12. Like an aftertaste.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like the direction I’m taking this.  
Enjoy the fast updates while you can, I don’t know if they’ll continue happening.

Nico was shaken to his core, in a way he hadn’t been for a while now, not since he found sleeping next to someone helped with the nightmares, that having something real kept them more or less at bay. He knows he’s being, perhaps a little clingy, but the images are still fresh in his head; and he doesn’t think he’ll sleep after dinner.

Leo hasn’t said anything about it, allowing Nico to be close to him, warm, real, and within reach; and the alpha knows he’d be even warmer if Nico did decide to touch him, but he doesn’t think he’ll be able to let go again if he does. He tries not to think about the dream, about what happened in it, about the panic that rose to his throat when he woke up cold and with his arms empty; the omega had managed to calm him down some, cuddling with Nico until his breath evened out.

He knows he should talk about it, because demigods rarely if ever get normal dreams, and Leo could be in serious danger; but he can’t bring himself to open his mouth. Only making a sound when they reach the dining area and it occurs to him that they’ll have to separate; Selah solves this with a tone that tells Nico he isn’t being subtle.

“We should all sit together, enjoy each other before we’re all pulled into cabin activities”

She clearly means just her and Leo, because Reyna doesn’t have a cabin here, and Nico makes his own schedule; it strikes him that he got used to following the Apollo cabin schedule, and that’s gonna change starting tomorrow. That is, if Nico even stays here, he could go to Jupiter, and he could spend sometime in the underworld, or… his eyes catch Leo giving him a worried look, and his heart skips a beat; or he could stay a little longer, to make sure nothing happens to the omega.

Chiron only raises an eyebrow when they all sit at the Hades table, but says nothing to stop them, neither does Mr. D, but Nico didn’t expect him to. Leo sits right by his side, while Reyna and Selah sit in front of them, the table is on the smaller side, being able to hold three people on each side at most, maybe one person on each end; which makes sense all things considered.

As the dinner starts and chatter fills the air, and food starts appearing in the plates, Nico settles to watch Leo and Selah talking; Selah’s asking what activities Leo’s missed the most while he was out of commission, when Nico notices something. Reyna is watching the exchange too, but her eyes are mainly on Selah, almost transfixed, and when the omega turns to her to ask if they have chariot battles at Jupiter, she stumbles momentarily.

Nico, who’s never seen her flustered, has to school his expression not to show; he meets eyes with Leo, who gives him an ‘are you seeing this?’ look, and yeah, Nico’s seeing this. He had noticed Selah gazing longingly at Reyna before, never for very long, and never when the beta could see her; Nico hadn’t realized Reyna liked her back, but the way Reyna looked at Selah right now was extremely telling.

It was obvious neither girl was aware of the other’s feelings, which was maybe a little amusing, and also a little annoying; but Nico wouldn’t get involved, or try rushing them into anything, no good could come from it. Leo gives him a small smile, like they’re sharing a secret, and Nico has to stare pointedly at his food not to combust on the spot.

As much as the nightmare has shaken him, it’s also made a few things clearer for him, his feelings for the omega being one of those things; he still needs time to come to terms to it, and decide what he’ll do about it. He knows firsthand how much damage bottled emotions can cause, but he wants to be clear about it, to be sure of what he says; because the last thing he wants is to hurt Leo.

.-- .- …/- …. .- -/--. --- --- -..

Leo thinks he’s understandably worried, not only about going back to his cabin, and to his siblings, after the rollercoaster he’s been on; nor the possibility of having to face either Piper or Jason by himself. Though, to be clear, those were very big concerns too, but they were expected after how the confrontation TM ended.

What was keeping Leo’s mind busy, however, was Nico’s state since they woke up from their late nap; it’s not that him being quiet were something weird, but it unsettles Leo for some reason. The fact that the alpha agreed to join him and Selah in the campfire is kind of alarming, and as much as Leo likes having him close right now, his worry only increases the longer the alpha stays within reach.

So he forms a plan in his head, and waits; until the campfire has passed, until they’ve said their goodbyes and gone different directions with Reyna staying in the Hermes cabin for the night, until lights start going out, but before the first call of the harpies taking over patrol.

He slips away from his cabin and family easily enough, but doesn’t have the time to celebrate, he needs to move if he doesn’t want to end up mangled. Leo wishes he could give himself some light, but prefers not to risk it, thankfully his destination is marked by two green torches; Greek fire is weirdly dim for something that burns eternally.

He takes a shaky breath but doesn’t waste time before knocking, as more and more cabins go dark; he fears he’s gonna need to start speeding back, when the door of Cabin 13 finally opens. Nico blinks at him for a second before he promptly pulls him in, and Leo gets just enough time to appreciate how pretty he looks in the green lighting inside the cabin, before the alpha growls at him.

“Are you crazy? What were you thinking?”

The problem was that Leo hadn’t, ok, so he had planned doing it, but he hadn’t really stopped to think of a reason he could actually tell Nico; and the alpha is giving him that worried and angry look, so Leo speaks before he can stop himself.

“I was worried about you, but I didn’t want to ask in front of the girls, or the other campers, so-”

He makes a motion with his hand, and watches Nico’s expression change before the alpha sighs and walks to the beds; Leo is hesitant to follow, but Nico gives him a look, and he’s hurrying to the other’s side.

“It’s about your nightmare, right?”

Nico nods, eyes strictly on the floor.

“I think it might be a prophecy of sorts”

Leo swallows, because he knows what those dreams are like, they all do, but also because he knows it was about him, and that scares him; but he needs to know.

“Can… could you tell me about it?”

Nico finally turns to him then, biting his lip, but he must reach the same conclusion Leo has, because he speaks.

“You were being forced to give yourself to a monster”

Leo feels like someone just ripped the air from his lungs, and knows he’s physically shaking.

“Oh”

Nico reaches out for him, and Leo lets himself fall into his arms without fighting it, overtaken by a desperate need for comfort; he now understands why the alpha had looked so shaken, and why he was so unwilling to stray far. Leo feels fucking terrified, disgusted, ashamed, and it hasn’t even happened yet.

“I’m sorry”

Nico’s voice shakes, like fear, like pain, and Leo’s suddenly sure that the alpha would do anything not to let the dream become real.

“Can I stay here?”

Nico nods against him, before he starts coaxing them to lay in the mattress, Leo helps as much as he can. They curl around each other much like they had in the bunker, only this time, Leo lets the feeling of safety wash over him; and eventually, they fall asleep.


	13. A hello, and a goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you thought I’d forgotten about Hazel, think again; I think her POV has some good sibling energy.

Hazel was mad at Nico, which wasn’t something that’d ever happened before, but it was justified! She had told him to tell her when Leo got better so she could join the confrontation, but heard nothing until Frank told her about Calypso moving to Jupiter.

Had she inherited the ability to shadow travel, she would’ve gone to Camp Half-Blood the second she found out; but as it was, she had to wait a day. She had not expected to receive a message as she was making her way to Cabin 13, or well, more like intercept a message since the crows clearly had intended to give it to Leo; something she only learned because the birds allowed her to take it instead, despite remaining where they were.

She wondered for a moment if Hades had been trying to get Nico to pass it along, because the crows were outside Cabin 13, but as she entered she met with a much more surprising sight. Curled closely together, angled so the entering sunlight wouldn’t hit, were two figures.

Hazel recognized her brother immediately, the other person took her a little longer, but then again, she’d never seen Leo look that peaceful while asleep. She can’t help but gasp at the sight, which is just enough to wake her brother up; he’d always been a light sleeper.

Nico’s eyes whirl across the room for a moment before settling on Leo’s sleeping form in his arms, Hazel sees him get the softest expression ever before he finally looks at her and goes pink. Embarrassed as he clearly is that she saw this, he makes no move to get away from the sleeping omega, as if afraid to move.

She figures he doesn’t want to wake Leo up, and considering what happened yesterday, Hazel is inclined to agree with that sentiment, even if she’s angry that he didn’t tell her; Leo deserves to rest and recover. Hazel whispers to the best of her abilities.

“Dad has a request for Leo”

And then, when he looks confused, she adds.

“Greek dad, there’s a murder outside”

Nico’s face flashes through emotions for a few seconds before he makes proper sense of what’s happening; Hazel enjoys his confusion. As Nico’s brain finishes waking up and processing words, Leo makes a small sound, slowly blinking awake; he mumbles something of the lines of ‘what’s going on’ into Nico’s chest, and Hazel watches her brother get even more flustered.

“You have a message”

Leo groans and pulls away from Nico just enough to look at her and smile lazily.

“Haze, you’re not iris-y”

With his sleep-lazed voice, and his bedhead, he makes for a very cute sight, particularly when he’s acting like Nico’s his favorite teddy; which is still affecting the now properly awake Nico, much to her amusement.

“Our dad sent you crows”

Leo hums, his whole head making a nodding motion as he almost falls asleep again; this seems to be amusing to his half-awake mind, because he giggles. Hazel wishes she had a camera with her, because the look on her brother’s face right now is priceless; she’s so going to have a talk with him later.

Leo de-tangles one of his hands in order to hide an obvious yawn, and then slowly proceeds to detach the rest of him from Nico, who follows him into sitting position.

“Ok, I’m awake, what does your dad need?”

-. --- -/- . .-.. .-.. .. -. --./-.-- --- ..-/-.-- . -

Reyna thinks it would be a bad idea to do anything about her newfound feelings right now, because she’s planning on going back to Jupiter. She does agree to keep in contact with Selah, when the omega asks, if nothing else to have a trustable source for any Camp Half-Blood news.

It’s more than just that, Reyna knows, but anything could happen while she’s away, making sure Calypso stays as far away from Leo as possible; and she doesn’t think it’d be right to tell Selah and expect her to wait indefinitely.

But she makes a silent promise, that if the omega is still single when she comes back, she will do her best to court her; and Reyna knows she’ll be back eventually, now she has more than one reason to.

It’s a little funny, thinking about Leo like that, letting herself call him a friend; past her would’ve never believed it. She’s glad though, because if she does get to try courting Selah, Leo’s gonna be her best option for help; and that’s a whole concept in and on itself.

As though summoned by her thoughts, Leo appears in her field of sight, smiling tentatively; Nico and Hazel are there too, watching from a distance. Reyna puts the last of her things away and pays full attention to him.

“So, uhm, I wanted to thank you for everything, I don’t think I’ve done that yet”

He’s sheepish, which is understandable when considering how unused he is to this sort of thing; Reyna gives him a smile, before he reaches out and softly puts her hand on his shoulder.

“Next time try calling me with a little more warning”

Leo lets out surprised laugh at that, but the look on his face betrays how much he appreciates her offer.

“You’ll be the first I call”

Reyna lets her eyes stray to Nico, who’s smiling softly at their exchange, and then back to Leo.

“Not Nico?”

His hair smokes a little, and his ears turn pinkish, but he recovers quickly.

“Actually, I’m gonna be spending a bit in the Underworld, to make up for cheating death and whatnot”

Reyna supposes that makes sense, and of course, Nico would be making sure his father didn’t keep Leo down there forever; time passed differently in the Underworld. She squeezes Leo’s shoulder where she’s still holding it, and grabs her stuff.

“Come visit when you’re done”

Leo gives her an actual smile then, and something warm settles around Reyna.

“I will”


	14. Viewpoints

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love some good old perspective play.

Selah does her very best to keep herself busy while Reyna prepares to leave, she’s gotten permission to message her, and been promised to be contacted too, but that does little to help the sadness she feels. It’s not the first time she’s watched the Roman demigoddess leaving camp, but now that Selah’s actually made some sort of progress, it hurts a lot more.

The worst part is that Leo will leave too in the near future, since Hades finally found something to have him do to make up for his little reviving stunt; Selah hopes it’s nothing too harsh, though she doubts Nico would stay quiet if his dad tried to push Leo more than the omega could handle.

There’s also Nico’s sister, Hazel, who Selah had heard off, and seen from a distance; she’s a lovely beta, with an air that reminds Selah of her siblings, but not quite. Leo introduces them to each other, after he explains things to Selah in one of their few shared times off; it’s rare when their cabin’s schedules align.

It’s probably for the better though, because she knows Nico had been following the Apollo cabin’s schedule, and that wouldn’t work now for obvious reasons; and she didn’t know how ready Leo was to return to normal activities after all the drama. It sucks that she won’t be able to see them as often, but Nico has promised to get her a crow for messages; which would thankfully not be a rare sight around her cabin.

She is going to miss them terribly, or rather, she’s gonna miss the chance to interact with them outside of Leo’s heat, the chance to become close enough to miss them terribly. She’s wants to say they are friends now, wants to believe this with every fiber of her being, so they’ll eventually get together again, and make up for missed chances.

There is also another option Selah hasn’t allowed herself to consider, it’d be too desperate, too obvious; but it’s also ridiculously tempting. Selah could, gods help her, visit Camp Jupiter and see Reyna again, this time in her ‘natural habitat’ so to speak; she doesn’t think she’d survive that alone though, and she doesn’t want to become annoying by following the busy beta around like a baby duck.

No, Selah will wait in Camp Half-Blood, it was the smarter call; she would concentrate on the friends she has here, as well as her cabin activities, and time will pass without her even noticing. She gives her reflection in the lake a nod at this, and goes gather the rest of her herbs; today is potion making, and she’s going to enjoy it fully.

../.-.. --- …- ./… . .-.. .- …./… ---/-- ..- -.-. ….

Leo believes anyone in his shoes would be scared, a little bit, maybe just weary; like, hey, you’ve survived death, but you still gotta spend some time in the Underworld. So he’s understandably afraid, and extremely glad he won’t be there alone.

Realistically, he knows Nico isn’t going just to keep him company; he remembers mentions of the boy spending more time down there than with the living on occasion, so he’s probably got things to do. But Leo’s inner omega will not be talked down from its perch, upon which it screeches over spending time with the alpha in a place where Nico most likely thrives.

Granted, this does mean Leo gets plenty of chances to impress the alpha, maybe even his godly family, were he to play his cards right; safe to say that will not be happening, he can only hope not to undo whatever progress he’s made so far. It’s gonna be a long… however long he’ll stay there, he will have to talk with Hades about that, which is, a whole concept.

They’re getting close to autumn too, so there’s a high chance Leo will meet Lady Persephone, which, ok, maybe he’s a little excited about that, she’s a badass. But the lady of the Underworld being there would mean one more person for Leo to make a fool of himself to, by doing something ridiculous; like, say, flirting with her pseudo son.

Leo doesn’t actually know what the relationship is vis a vis Nico and Persephone or, on that account, Hazel and Persephone; he’ll probably be kept too busy to bother anyone with his curiosity, or at least anyone who isn’t in charge of keeping an eye on him.

He tries to distract himself by helping Nyssa with their younger siblings, because that generally helps some, but he’s a too wound coil ready to spring, so eventually she ushers him away. Then, Leo tries to distract himself by working on one of his many projects, some in actual blueprint and plans, others in a more physical form, half-started and messy; instead, he finds himself putting things in order.

Organizing is part of his second-nature, tied to nest building, but Leo has a very particular system that has everything to do with his ADHD; because giving things a specific spot makes them easier to find, it also helps him concentrate some, which is heavy. Said organization might not be seen as such by someone else, but it works for him.

It is during this cleaning process, that Nico comes get him so they can make the trip downwards; but it takes a full minute, and an almost accident, for Leo to realize he’s there. Which is how he ends up looking at the alpha, as they both hold a box full of pistons; Leo isn’t even surprised at this point.

In this position Leo gets a good whiff of that wonderful scent of his, and has to do a few mental pirouettes in order not to mewl. The alpha helps him get back to a balanced position, and then removes his hands, so Leo promptly rushes away with the box to where he had planned to put it.

If Nico finds any of this weird, he says nothing about it, staying perfectly still where he was a moment ago, though his eyes follow the omega. Leo gets the last box back to where it’s supposed to be, while pointedly ignoring the other person in the room, and scolds his inner omega for making a fuss about being watched.

Eventually, there’s nothing else out of place, and Leo has to turn his attention to the alpha in the room. Nico, who definitely sees the look of ‘what now?’ on Leo’s face, runs a hand through the back of his head and offers a hand; how Leo doesn’t combust on the spot is a wonder.

“Ready?”

He allows himself to take a deep breath, and swallow, before he gives a resolute nod and walks to the alpha, taking the offered hand in his; even now he marvels at the coldness of the skin against his own.

“Ready”

And the world goes dark.


	15. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know I generally switch POV from chapter to chapter, but this felt right. I was singing songs from Hadestown while writing this.   
So uhm, this is set sometime after HOO, but clearly in a universe where TOA didn’t happen, so Calypso and Leo got time to ‘settle’ in camp. I’m not the best when it comes to making sense of the timeline of my stories vs the cannon timeline.

The Underworld was not what Leo was expecting, back during his little brush with death, Leo had only seen the shore with the ferry, before the potion kicked in; he wondered if Charon would recognize him should they ever cross paths. He knew Thanatos definitely would, though he doubted the death god would try anything with Nico there; much less when Hades had called Leo here to fix things up.

The castle actually kind of reminded Leo of Nico’s cabin back at camp, which made a lot of sense because Percy had told him Nico designed the thing after the deal to give all gods cabins was struck. It was a lot bigger than the cabin, taking into account that it was very much a castle, so Leo was extremely glad he would have to try making his way through it on his own; as they made it to the opening doors, Leo caught a brief glimpse of something sparkling colorfully, and then he was inside the dark halls.   
The green light of Greek fire cast an eerie glow on the obsidian and ivory, it was sort of beautiful, in a hard way to explain; it made something in Leo’s heart tug tightly, like a tense string. It occurred to him then, that this was the closest he’d ever be to seeing that, to seeing his own string; that the representation of his fate was somewhere in this place.

He wondered, for the very first time, what that would look like; had never considered himself the kind to want to see his own fate, scared that he would mess it up by trying to change something. It was the reason he’d never toiled with the idea of time travel, though there was a part of him that thought he could pull it off; because what if Leo didn’t trust himself not to get involved in some sort of trouble.

They finally made it to the throne room, and Leo’s mind finally focused on the god sitting on one of the thrones. Nothing could’ve prepared Leo for the sight of Nico’s dad, or how easy it was to tell that the two were related; Leo himself looked an awful lot like his great grandfather, instead of either of his parents, though he liked to believe there was a lot of Esperanza in his features.

Leo would probably lean a lot more into those features as he grew, considering his second nature; he wondered if Nico would still look so much like Hades once he got older.

Man, he was really nervous, he usually could hold his trail of though in one place for more than two minutes; luckily he’d managed to follow Nico through bowing to and greeting the lord of the Underworld even with his head off somewhere else. He hopes this goes smoothly, so maybe he can get his mind back into control, and away from dangerous thoughts, like older Nico.

../.- .-.. … ---/…. .- …- ./.- -.. …. -..

Hades explained that they were having a bit of a problem in the forges, something about the cyclopes having started a competition of sorts and dragging others to play judge, in turn messing with everyone’s schedules; he had figured a child of Hephaestus would make for the perfect judge, and it would also work as Leo’s very own ‘back to life’ contract, so his little trick would no longer count as cheating death. This way Leo got to be fully back to being a normal demigod, as opposed to a death-marked demigod; appeasing not only Thanatos, but the order of all things.

The only thing was that Leo would have to prove himself to the cyclopes first, but Leo would definitely manage that. It sounded, in all honesty, like a perfectly acceptable deal; but Nico couldn’t help but worry.

It wasn’t that he doubted the omega; Leo was pretty smart, enough to make a whole instrument just to get Apollo to help him. But this place would tempt him time and time again, and… no! Nico was not gonna let that happen.

Leo deserved to go back to camp, to leave; he wouldn’t get stuck down here, not if Nico had anything to do about it.

.. - .----. …/… …. --- .-. -/../-.- -. --- .--

When Aphrodite had approached Hades with both interesting news and a solution to his current problem, he’d been hesitant; but he had also been curious. She had explained the solution first, have the boy who cheated death do the favor as a way to even things out, a deal of the sort Hades had made in the past.

Then, upon him questioning her wanting to save him, she explained that his son had become infatuated with the boy without Aphrodite even really intervening, and that she had become invested in seeing where that took him; then she went on a tangent about platonic love, and her daughter needing a good talking to. Hades didn’t voice his confusion over that last bit because Aphrodite looked like she was talking more to herself than him; still, he agreed to her plan.

He could see the truth of her words as Nico stuck close to the boy during their entire entrance, even guiding him through the proper curtsies; and then looking to the boy in clear worry as Hades explained what he wanted from him.

What Aphrodite hadn’t mentioned, but Hades could notice regardless, was the fact that his son’s infatuation was responded equally; though he doubted Nico knew of it. It meant Hades was a little more inclined to help Aphrodite than he’d originally been; after all, it wasn’t common for one of his children to have their feelings reciprocated evenly.


	16. Longing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Think of this as a little prelude to the nightmare, or like the puzzle pieces falling into place on the board, just know that we’ll get to it eventually.  
Me: 1 cyclops, 2 cyclopes (the rules of plural words are… complex)

Nico doesn’t know what he’s doing, which in his case was not a common occurrence, since unlike some other demigods, he liked to have an actual plan of action. Granted, he’s with one of the few demis that share his preference for guidelines, but Leo had a much easier time improvising than him.

He watches the omega build himself a place in the forges, twirling tools around as though they’re extensions of his own self, easily passing every test the cyclopes had put him to; it’s almost soothing to watch, almost because Nico’s still on edge. Trying to keep Leo safe from the Underworld’s ways was hard when he didn’t know what Leo wanted, temptation varied from person to person after all.

There’s an easy way to figure it out, and though he’s not sure how Leo will react to it, Nico can’t afford to chance this; so he waits for a dull in the work Leo does, and makes a question he’s had for a while.

“How did you learn Morse code?”

Leo falters momentarily, but his hands keep steady around the piece of metal he’s working on, fingers tapping a quick pattern before he answers him, eyes never leaving his work.

“You know Morse?”

Nico figures the truth will do best.

“Not really, not to translate, but I recognized it”

Leo’s shoulders sag just a little, something barely noticeable, only Nico’s watching him carefully; the omega nods thoughtfully.

“My mom taught me, we would use it to talk through the door of her workshop, it was our thing”

His hands move in a flurry of greys and bonzes; in the table something starts taking shape.

“She learned it from my great grandad I think, he’s the only one I saw using it in the family”

Nico’s heard about Sammy Valdez through Hazel, and about the trip through her memories with Leo; it’s a bit weird to think about, but that could be said about much of their lives. Leo taps a particularly familiar pattern on the table, next to his creation, the one Nico’s seen him do a thousand times over.

Brown eyes meet his own, Leo gives him a small tentative smile, and Nico’s heart makes an entire leap.

“I could teach you”

It dawns on him then, what Leo wants most isn’t something the Underworld can so easily give, it gives him a little piece of mind; he wants a connection, something secure, something his. Nico can do that for him.

“I’d like that”

He allows himself to enjoy the way Leo’s entire face lights up as he beams at him.

…. --- .-.- ./ -.-- --- ..-/.-.. .. -.- . -../ - …. .- -

Leo has been kept rather busy since arriving at the Underworld’s forge, it’s been fun, after he got used to the size of everything; he’s been allowed to tinker as he pleases while the cyclopes prepare for their last competition, to which Leo’s gonna be the judge. He might or might not be excited about this, no one would ever know.

He’s also been spending time with Nico, teaching him Morse, and more surprisingly, trading stories; it was a question of trust, the more one of them shared, the more the other was willing to share. Leo knew he had been the one to start it, offering to teach Nico the code he treasured so much; he was just surprised that the alpha had decided to respond like this.

He had almost forgotten where he was, and how the place worked, when suddenly the Underworld lit up to welcome Persephone; it wasn’t Leo’s first experience with places where time moved different than he was used to. Since Leo had admitted to wanting to meet Persephone, Nico had pulled him to the castle for when the goddess arrived; so he’d gotten to see how the king of the Underworld transformed for his wife and vice-versa.

Now, while Leo absolutely understood machines better than he did people, he was still a bit of a romantic, just slightly; just enough that he thought the sight in front of him to be lovely, and it really was. Want coiled tightly around his heart, not for the first time, but a lot more viciously than ever before; it hurt to watch, yet Leo couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“They’re really in love”

It left him in a sigh, less like a discovery and more like a plea, and he feels Nico shift at his side, not saying anything; Leo hadn’t expected him to, knowing this sight hurt him for a whole different reason. He half thinks Nico isn’t even paying attention to him, so he takes a little risk, just tiny one; a second of honesty.

“I want something like that”

When his words are met with silence he thinks he got away with it, and then he’s being introduced to Persephone; had he just turned, he would’ve realized the alpha heard him loud and clear.

../-.-. --- -. … .. -.. . .-./- …. .. …/.-.- .. -. -. .. -. --.

Persephone had been a little skeptic when Hades told her about the boy who escaped death, after all, the last they’ve heard of Nico, he was still dating that Apollo kid. They hadn’t actually met Will, which had been cause enough for her to do a little spying whenever she was in the surface; nothing that would be obvious, or that would distract her from her work; it had also sat wrong on her, because Nico spoke like he wanted them to meet him.

She knew why Will refused too, because she saw it every time she watched them; Nico was too inexperienced, to blinded by emotion, to realize his very nature was being stifled. It had angered her more than she cared to admit; so if Nico really had ended things with the boy, then she was proud of him for finally seeing it.

She did wonder about the other boy, the one paying the price for his little stunt to save the world, and to save someone the boy had loved; she’d seen Calypso going to the Roman camp, like nothing was keeping her tied anymore.

She honestly hadn’t been expecting an omega, not with everything she heard of the boy, but the letter fit him very nicely when face to face; and she got to see just how truthful her husband had been. Before she fully approached she’d seen Nico turn to him looking like he’d had an epiphany, probably at something that’d been said, but he’d yet to turn back to her, like he couldn’t look away; it made her a little curious, but was more than enough proof.

The omega has a star struck expression on his face as he introduces himself, which is amusing as it is flattering, and she thinks his name fits him just as nicely as his nature. She’s always been particularly tuned to longing, knowing the feeling so well herself, and it hangs heavily in his very breath; it hangs also around Nico, and it’s a bit of a sad sight.

The two leave eventually, so Leo can go back to what he’s supposed to be doing, and Persephone watches them with a sigh in her lips. Hades pulls lightly at her hand and kisses her temple once she’s close enough to reach, she smiles softly at him; they both hope for the best.


	17. Payment and Reward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jumped right back into this as soon as my laptop got back to me. The cyclopes are actually named Αλκιβιάδης and Ειρηναίος, but you get the proper phonetic translations.

Originally, the ‘forge showdown’ had been proposed as a way to settle a dispute between a particular pair of cyclopes; Alkiviádis and Irinéos, who were actually a couple. The two had pulled other cyclopes whom they were close to into their ‘sides’, and things had spiraled out of control; though it was a pretty friendly competition for something that started as a lover’s quarrel.

Nico had given him an entire look when Leo explained it to him, which was a hilarious sight, and still made him giggle upon remembering; though, particularly, Leo thought it was sort of romantic. Still the cyclopes had agreed to have this be the last competition, admitting that they too had grown tired of the whole thing.

Having been chosen as judge meant that Leo got to pick the ‘theme’; and the omega chose ‘utility’.

It made sense, all the previous competitions had been about building weapons, which was the main objective of the forge, but caused more trouble than wanted; and also hadn’t given any decisive results, because both Alkiviádis and Irinéos were equally accustomed to making weapons. So Leo had them build something that the Underworld needed instead, something ‘useful’; more of a tool, or machine.

For this purpose, he first had to talk with one of the rulers in order to find out what was actually needed; and after much deliberation, he decided to ask Persephone for help. She had given him a mysterious smile when he approached her, and then sent him to pick six whole flowers from her garden; it took Leo actually being in the place to understand why she specified the ‘whole’.

Persephone’s garden was made out of gemstones and crystals, of various colors and values, there were even a few precious metals interwoven into the plant-like sculptures; it was humming with energy, alive despite none of its parts being capable of such a thing. Finding the way to separate six flowers from their places, without breaking or damaging them, was a very interesting problem to solve; but with a few heated wires, some shuffling, and a lot of patience, Leo got what he needed.

While he did so he was under the curious watch of the goddess, as opposed to Nico, who had been keeping an eye on him this whole time; because the alpha had been sent to do an errand by his father. It took a lot to convince him to leave too, and Leo tried not to get his hopes up; he knew what the Underworld could do, it didn’t mean anything.

Persephone looked very pleased when he presented her with the flowers, smiling as she took them into her hands; they glowed under her fingers.

“You’ve done lovely work”

Her tone was openly honest, eyes soft, and Leo almost glowed too under her praise.

“Thank you my lady”

Persephone looked a little amused, but made no comment on his words, instead fulfilling her end of their little ‘deal’

So at the end of that particular ‘day’, Leo presented two projects for the cyclopes to choose from; both of which would be of great help for getting things back on track. They each picked one, before dividing into two teams, and promptly set to work.

-.- . . .-.- .. -. --./.. -/…- .- --. ..- .

The cavern of the fates wasn’t exactly eerie, in fact, the dim glow of all the different strings cast the walls like a prism, which was rather pretty; but it was brimming with a kind of energy that always made one feel as though slightly angled, offset. The Moirai didn’t exactly help the feeling, but they also did nothing to make it worse; spinning through the countless threads with practiced ease.

They never stop their work, not even when discussing amongst themselves; even a split second would be too much of a delay. Nico does his absolute best not to disturb them, staying firmly at the entrance of the cavern and waiting for a pause in their dialogue; he doesn’t believe he could startle them, but he is cautious regardless.

“I have a message for you from my father”

He doesn’t bother with formalities, with introductions, both would be considered a waste of breath when the three deities know exactly who he is. They don’t turn to him, and he doesn’t expect them to; their answer is a little different.

Atropos calls one of the strings closer, lets it coil in front of Nico once before it reaches all three of them, Clotho uses her free hand to make it spin in place and suddenly there’s a ripple in the air and the image of Hades appearing as though through an Iris message. Nico knows, with a sudden certainty, that the string the fates are showcasing is his own.

“I’ve given Leo Valdez the chance to pay for his crime without losing his life”

Hades voice sounds distorted through the image, and Leo’s name fills the space of a different set of words; Nico knows because this is his memory. The ripple disappears and the string floats to join the stream again, Lachesis is the only one to address him.

“We’ll see to his string when the time comes, if the boy doesn’t fail, we will restore it as asked”

Nico feels the resolve he had strengthen, giving a resolute nod even though none of the fates are paying him particular attention.

“Thank you”

All three smile as their hands continue to work, and Nico strides away from the cave, feeling like something is pushing him forwards. He finds Leo perched atop one of the too big chairs in the forge, watching the cyclopes work; jumping into the shadows to join him is easy, but shadow travel always is down here.

The omega gives him a brief smile before his eyes go back to the cyclopes, watching attentively, Nico settles at his side as quietly as he can and tries to watch too. He doesn’t really know what’s happening, not exactly, not how Leo most definitely does; but the closeness and steady stream of noises are incredibly soothing.

He’s not sure how it happens, but they eventually shift closer together, until they’re pressed against each other; like this he’s particularly aware of Leo’s scent, and particularly aware of just how deeply he feels for the omega. And he has a staggering sense of dèjavú as he remembers a similar moment with a different view, wooden planks under his hands, and the sound of wind rushing by; the crow’s nest of the Argo II had been Nico’s safe-space however momentarily, and he felt that same way right now.


	18. Unspooled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The cyclopes are also gay, in case you guys aren’t familiar with Greek naming customs; it just occurred to me you might not be. I got a little carried away, also incredibly flustered; I’d apologize, but I believe you guys will love this.

The forge was full of sound that ‘day’, not the normal flurry of metal against metal, hammers and heat; it was the sound of laughter and teasing, and though only one team had won all of them were celebrating. The work tables had been cleared to allow big glasses filled to the brim with drinks, swooshing wildly in work scarred hands.

Irinéos and Alkiviádis had made Leo and Nico sit with them, the only ones not partaking in the drinks; having won, Alkiviádis insisted Nico sit at his side, which had amused Leo greatly, and had them wind up not only on opposite sides of the table, but also diagonal with each other.

The two had been sharing tales with them from how they had first met, to how their relationship had started, and all the fun intricacies of cyclops’ courting. Leo was particularly charmed, leaning over the wood.

“It sounds like an amazing relationship”

At his side, Irinéos lets out a laud laugh in clear agreement, Alkiviádis gives the other the fondest look ever before looking back at Leo with a smile of his own.

"I'm sure your relationship has its own charm"

Leo splutters for a second, barely managing to keep his fire at bay; that’s happening a lot more often since he admitted his new feelings to himself.

"I'm not in a relationship"

Alkiviádis arches his lone eyebrow at him, mouth set into a thin line.

"What do you call your connection to our prince then?"

Leo knows he's gone red, as he struggles for the right way to answer, overly aware of the other being close by. If he answers truthfully, he'll give himself away; but if he lies to avoid that, he might ruin whatever meager chance he has.

It’s hard to keep his mind from wondering onto what it means that they’ve given that appearance, without actually trying for it; but Leo is lost in pondering. Eventually, he bites his lips, considering his options and their possible results one last time, and then he swallows in order to steady his words.

"I want something, but I don't know if he does too"

He keeps his eyes solely on the cyclops, watching as his expression shifts into a soft sort of smile; a sympathetic one. Leo feels other eyes on him, but refuses to acknowledge them; part of him wants nothing more than to turn and look, to finally get some sort of resolution to this.

"Well my boy, it's only a matter of asking then"

He looks slightly to the side, probably noticing the quiet like Leo had, something like amusement in his expression; he hopes it’s nothing bad. He knows it’s probably too soon, too rushed, even if it doesn’t feel like it; but he’s never been patient, not with this sort of thing at least.

Leo’s aware that he’ll have to face Nico eventually, eyes stubbornly on the table, where he taps the same pattern over and over, a prayer not to a deity but to his mother; he wants to run, to escape from the inevitable consequence, but there’s nowhere to go.

He sighs, allowing himself a few more beats to steel his nerves, repeats the pattern one more time, and finally look up. He’s not surprised at finding onyx eyes on him, nor the surprise they hold, but he is at the soft rosy glow in Nico’s cheeks; like the alpha is flustered.

Leo cannot deal with this, nope, no señor, forget the fact that he’s in Nico’s world, and there’s literally nowhere to run; Leo slips from his perch, and fucking guns it.

-... . .... --- .-.. -.. / .- / --. .- -.-- / -.. .. ... .- ... - . .-.

Celebrating with the cyclopes was an experience; the cheerful atmosphere hadn’t been a stifling as it would’ve once upon a time, and he managed to keep himself and Leo away from the cursed drinks that would bind them to this place. Speaking with the pair that had started the whole ordeal was honestly a lot more interesting than he had imagined.

Apparently, the two were together, and by the way they talked and acted, clearly in love; Nico felt a sort of envy, suddenly understanding what Leo had whispered back in the castle.

_“I want something like that”_

The words had shaken Nico to his core, not because it was Leo who said them, but because his heart had echoed them loudly, and he found himself thinking ‘me too’.

“It sounds like an amazing relationship”

It was said in that same tone, though louder this time, still laced with longing; Nico represses a shiver, heart singing with want. Alkiviádis smiles sympathetically, as though sensing the longing as well.

"I'm sure your relationship has its own charm"

Nico is enraptured as he watches Leo’s hair glisten for a moment before the omega calms down, fire peeking through the dark locks.

"I'm not in a relationship"

It dawns on him then, the cyclops’ words, and his mind whirls as he makes sense of what’s being implied before it’s even voiced.

"What do you call your connection to our prince then?"

Leo goes red and Nico’s heart flies to his throat, beat so loud it’s a wonder no one calls him out on it; the omega shifts in his seat and a little smoke trails upwards from his ears. And here, Nico thinks maybe he’s hallucinating, completely lost his mind, because…

"I want something, but I don't know if he does too"

The omega keeps his eyes strictly on the cyclops, expression giving nothing away; but Nico can’t do that anymore, can’t suppress the barrage of emotion he’s feeling. There’s no way, absolutely no way that this is real.

His ears are deafened by his heartbeat, but he feels the cyclops at his side talking, and barely registers the effect of whatever Alkiviádis says on Leo; the omega starts tapping what can only be a Morse pattern into the table on repeat, but Nico can’t translate right now.

And then finally, finally, Leo looks at him, brown eyes gleaming with a fear that’s too raw not to be real, and then the omega is running. Nico doesn’t hesitate, even if it is a hallucination, he’d never forgive himself for letting Leo get lost in the Underworld; the shadows swallow him in a second and take him outside the forge just in time to catch up to the running omega.

He almost doesn’t manage to get a hold of him, but soon he has the omega’s warm wrist in his hold, and they’re both panting. Leo whirls towards him, a mixture of panic, and frustration, and embarrassment; he’s so beautiful, and Nico wants.

Gods, Nico wants so badly, so wholly; wants everything and anything Leo’s willing to give him. Now that he has this chance, he’s gonna take it with both hands.

“I want too”

Leo’s lips pull, but Nico can’t stop now.

“Whatever it is, whatever you were asking for”

The omega turns to him entirely, as Nico’s hands slips from his wrist, to start waving in front of him; he never really got rid of that little habit.

“I want it too, with you… I want to be the one who gives you that, I-”

There are hands holding his face, warm and scarred, but extremely gentle, and Leo’s giving him the most beautiful smile.

“Stop me if I’m going too fast”

Nico doesn’t know what to make of those words until the distance between them is closing, and there are lips on his; his mind splutters for a second before he manages to kiss him back, hands reaching out on their own. Soon there’s barely an inch between them, breath tangling together as they pull away to breathe, foreheads pressed together.

“Wow”

Leo’s smiles again, softer, and every bit as disheveled as Nico feels.

“Yeah”

Nico feels soft all over, like the world is spinning slower; filled with warmth.

“Can I-?”

Teeth over lips, unfairly alluring. 

“Please”

He kisses him again, longer, surer, and his heart swoops, but his soul settles.

.- -.. -.. . -. -.. ..- --

A knotted string untangles, two frayed pieces fall from it, but somehow the string is whole, glowing brightly, and maybe longer than it'd been before it was torn in two and tied together. As it settles into the stream, it floats closer to another, and they circle each other as though magnetized.

The weavers watch this dance intently for but a moment, before the next string calls their attention.


	19. Collared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pinning has ended, but the story continues. I try to make all Leo metaphors have something to do with mechanisms and mechanical stuff, because he’s the one thinking them.   
I need everyone to know that I actually planned this story to be a lot darker; I was also going to play a lot more with the concept of letters as compared to the concept of gender. Obviously neither of these things happened, but I wanted to share.

Hades pulls Leo with him to oversee the implementation of the wining invention, to thank him for his work and to give a close to this ordeal; Nico aches to join them, but is held back by Persephone, who has a knowing smile.

“I have something for you to give him, it’d be best if he doesn’t see it yet”

Nico doesn’t ask how she knows, because maybe he enjoys being able to hold Leo’s hand a little too much to be subtle about it, sue him. At the very least this means that she approves of their relationship, which is actually great; it means his dad is all that more likely to approve too.

“The two cyclops you helped had a hand on this, and I allowed them to use a few plants from my garden”

Nico always found it a little humorous that both Hades and Persephone pretended like the garden wasn’t made out of precious minerals, but his amusement doesn’t last long as Persephone produces a collar seemingly out of thin air. The body is black, with intricate design akin to flames in red, obsidian and rubies Nico realizes, silver clasp at the front hidden by a pendant.

His breath catches as he recognizes it, the most painful part of a nightmare he’d been trying to ignore, an omen instead of a gift; it’s a little different, instead of the oval shaped pendant with a carefully engraved design he remembers, the pendant is shaped into his initial. He schools his expression into one of gratitude, because Persephone doesn’t know, and neither had her helpers; and if it wasn’t for the nightmare it would be a lovely gift, if a bit embarrassing.

He expects his hands to shake as he takes it, they don’t, he expects his voice to falter as he thanks her, it doesn’t; if Persephone has any clue as to the conflict inside Nico’s head, she says nothing. The collar gleams faintly in his hands, and Nico has to admit it’s beautiful; he just hopes the differences are enough.

“I took the liberty of making it fireproof”

Persephone has a lilt to her voice, like she’s dealing with a something that might embarrass him; Nico doesn’t blame her, having a good idea as to why Leo avoids that particular ability of his.

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that”

She gives him a pleased smile, and then he hears his name being called by Leo, he quickly hides the collar on an inner pocket of his jacket, and turns towards the omega, _his_ omega; using the possessive, even if just in thought, sends a trill of electricity-like giddiness all over his body, and he finds himself smiling.

.-- ./- .. -- ./… -.- .. .-.- .. -. --./-… --- -.-- …

Going back up into the real world feels kind of like someone turning a light on when you were unknowingly working in the dark, the sun shining fervently over fallen leaves. The closer they get to camp the less amount of browns and oranges, as the normal tree line gives way to evergreens; and as per usual, the camp itself shows no sign that the season has ended.

It takes Leo a bit to realize that the reason if feels as though something’s changed, has little to do with the camp, and everything to do with the hand still intertwined with his own. They had initially held hands in order to shadow travel, but Leo doesn’t was to let go, ever, at all; and maybe it’s his omega speaking, but he thinks Nico doesn’t either.

Leo is maybe gushing, which is, a whole thing, because he’s never done this before; it’s weird, and funny, and exiting, and sort of amazing. It’s kind of like someone decided to crank up his omega side to the highest level, and he finds himself struggling to keep his instincts at bay; otherwise he’d be purring like an old motor, loudly and hard to ignore.

They stop just after they’ve crossed the archway, safe but away from any prying eyes and ears, and Nico turns to him with that same resolute look he had when they confessed; Leo might or might not get the sudden urge to beg for a kiss, it’s inconsequential really.

“I… we should talk about this”

Leo shifts in place, a tentative smile on his lips.

“Haven’t we already?”

Nico huffs, turning slightly pink.

“Kind of, I’ve told you my… stance, but you never actually gave me an answer”

Leo feels a little relieved, and a lot flustered at the fact that Nico is absolutely right; he’s deprived the alpha of that security Leo feels knowing he’s wanted, and that’s just mean. So he takes a deep breath and turns so he’s fully facing Nico.

“That’s gonna be a lot”

Both his hands are now tangled with Nico’s, and the alpha squeezes them gently; encouraged, Leo starts going.

“I want a real relationship, something equal, like, maybe not in bed because I would like to experience being an omega, and even then we could work around it so I’m technically in control”

The look on Nico’s face is a travesty, but Leo keeps pushing.

“But mainly, I want something were I take care of you, and you take care of me, and we just keep each other in check, and alive, and happy; or as happy as possible”

Nico’s cold temperature helps a lot vis-à-vis not catching on fire due to embarrassment; Leo isn’t looking at him anymore though, because he doesn’t think he could handle that on top of saying this.

“It’s probably stupid”

“Try me”

Nico sounds amused, which prompts Leo to actually look at him, only to find himself being targeted with the softest look he’s ever seen on Nico’s face; the omega part of him all but preens under it.

“I want to be yours, properly, fully”

At some point Nico has gotten closer to Leo, or maybe Leo has gotten closer to Nico, because there’s only a few inches between them; so when Nico lets out a soft laugh, Leo feels it acutely.

“I want to be yours too”

Leo’s never seen him like this, rueful smile on his lips, eyes glimmering with something akin to mischief.

“Properly, fully”

Leo has to laugh then, even though he’s being made fun of, because Nico looks so happy.

“Shut up”

Their foreheads press together, and their hands are no longer tangled because Nico’s holding Leo by the waist, and Leo has his hands pressed against the alpha’s chest.

“Make me”

Leo does kiss him, but something gets trapped between them and makes a sound, which has him pulling away with a giggle as Nico groans.

“Right, let me just give this to you before we do that again”

He shifts a little so he has his one arm wrapped around Leo while the other goes for the inside pocket of his aviator jacket; Leo’s breath catches when he sees what he had hidden there. Leo had seen a lot of collars when he was trying to make the one for Calypso; so he’s allowed to say this is the prettiest one, he’s not biased, really.

There’s nothing to the fact that this will be his very first time owning a collar, or the fact that Nico clearly had been planning to give this to him when they stopped; but he does allow himself to beam at the alpha, _his _alpha, holy shit. He’s amazed that his hands don’t shake as he takes the collar, and he has to shift in order to put it on without breaking their contact; it’s nicely cold against his skin, but unlike any other metal, that cold stays.

“It’s uhm… fireproof”

Leo cups the little ‘N’ in his fingers, feeling weightless.

“It’s perfect”

Nico seems to un-tense at his side.

“Great”


	20. Surface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite the ABO dynamic system stemming from wolves, I think of Nico and Leo more in cat terms, so I just had the very funny realization that upon starting their relationship, Nico acquired his very own mobile space heater (I also have this head cannon that cats love Leo bc he irradiates warmth)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leo: *falls asleep against Nico*  
Nico *internally*: If anyone wakes him up I will go feral

Selah was really glad her cabin had the arena in their schedule today, because since getting the crow message telling her Leo and Nico would be returning today she’d been vibrating; like, not metaphorically, she was actually, physically vibrating, it was a thing. Generally, she was a lot better with archery than swordfight, but she was brimming with energy today and kicking everyone’s asses; still vibrating.

It was maybe a little funny, and she knew her cabin head agreed because she’d seen her stifling laughter behind her hands; they shared their arena time with the Hermes cabin, and she’d seen the twins also laughing, though they were a lot less subtle about it. It was probably the best she’d ever done in one of these, to be perfectly honest, and that probably said a lot.

Eventually they call a break, and she gets surrounded by the Stolls; it’s not exactly new, their cabins match pretty often, and the two have been trying to get ideas on how to make up with Leo. She knows because when they first started circling around her she declared she was lesbian, and was met with reassurances that neither twin was interested, ‘just trying to be better friends’.

Apparently, Travis has no interest in a romantic relationship, he’d accept a platonic partner in crime for when his brother finally gets himself a boy though; which is how Selah discovers Connor is not only gay but had a bit of a crush on Leo. She hopes that part isn’t still a thing, because she remembers the way Nico and Leo looked at each other before they left; if Leo’s still single after spending an entire month with him then she’ll be seriously disappointed in both of them.

“So, what has you so energetic”

Selah smiles at Travis, still giddy but no longer vibrating.

“Leo and Nico are coming back today”

Connor shifts at her left.

“Right, you said he was doing something in the Underworld”

Selah notes a waver in his voice and worries.

“What’s with your tone?”

Connor looks strictly to his feet.

“What if we fucked up too badly?”

Travis makes a half-choked sound and also looks to the ground; Selah sort of gets it, she’s known Leo since he first came to camp, she could’ve done something sooner, should’ve done something sooner. But Leo had welcomed her to his nest, and even asked to be at his side as he confronted Piper, Jason, and Calypso.

“I don’t know how well it’ll go immediately, but I can tell you really regret it, so I think he’ll forgive you eventually”

There’s a bit of a commotion close to the arena, and everyone goes look as per usual, Selah does get up and join the crowd so she’s in no place to judge really; it turns out to be the right choice, because there are Nico and Leo, surrounded by the Hephaestus cabin. Selah doesn’t think anything or anyone could’ve stopped her, not even herself.

“Leo!”

She’s running and pouncing on him before she even really thinks about it, the only reason they don’t go tumbling down is that Nico manages to catch both of them. Leo laughs brightly in between them, something different about the sound, lighter, freer.

“Hi Selah”

Nico helps both of them to their feet, looking only slightly winded, and she gives him a giddy smile before turning back to Leo, only then she notices it.

“Oh my god”

Leo catches on immediately, expression shifting to a ridiculously fond look as one hand goes to the pendant. There’s also Nico, who’s giving Leo the most obvious heart eyes, and Selah’s going to have to make them tell her everything; she could ask Hazel to help her with that, also Reyna, the two are Nico’s sisters after all.

“Who do I congratulate”

Leo blinks at her, glancing at Nico briefly.

“Uhm”

Selah rolls her eyes.

“Who confessed first silly”

Leo lets out an embarrassed kind of laugh.

“Oh, Nico did”

Selah grins wider, turning to Nico.

“I’ll be watching you closely Di Angelo, even if you did pick a beautiful collar; but that said… congratulations”

Nico gave her an entire look; it was a little amusing.

“Thanks”

Selah turned to Leo once more.

“Ok, we have to catch up but first, there are some people who want to talk to you”

Leo bit his lip, shifting in place.

“Who are they?”

Selah softened immediately at his tone.

“Travis and Connor, is that ok?”

Leo’s face flashed through emotions before he sighed and nodded, looking at Nico.

“Come with?”

She watched Nico soften too.

“Of course”

Good, that was the right answer.

../-- .. … … . -../… . .-.. .- ….

Leo hadn’t realized how much he missed the twins until he had the chance to actually talk with them again; though at first Selah had driven the conversation. He found himself laughing breathlessly as all three took turns to talk about everything he missed while in the Underworld, for an entire month apparently; it explained why no one had thought to question his relationship with Nico.

Leo was still reeling about that, still in disbelief over what Nico said, and what he said, and the fact that he now has a collar, his very first collar! And it’s a beautiful piece of jewelry, and it’s all Leo’s, like, it was made specifically for him. Also, he gets to lay his weight on Nico, and the alpha has his arms around him? Like, no one bats an eyelid, and Nico himself makes no effort to push him away, actually the alpha seems intent to keep him right where he is.

He doesn’t think he’s ever felt this… happy? Content? Something like that, good, and safe. It’s not until then that he realizes they hadn’t really slept while in the Underworld, because it never really felt like time was passing; but now he struggles to keep himself awake, as the words of his friends wash over him, and the scent of _his _alpha lulls him further.

Selah is talking with Nico about maybe visiting camp Jupiter, because Reyna is way too busy to visit them, and the twins are teasing her about her obvious crush on the beta; and Leo feels fingers brush through his hair, little shocks of pleasant cold follow them, and he loses the battle against sleep.

\--. --- -.. …/.. .----. --/- .. .-. . -..

It took a moment for Nico to realize Leo had fallen asleep on him, mostly because he’d been seriously discussing the possibility of visiting New Rome with Selah, after she managed to get the Stolls to calm down a little. Leo’s purring quietly against his shoulder, looking completely at peace, it’s very distracting, but at least the others have noticed and lowered their voices; Nico would hate for _his _omega to wake up.

He keeps his hand motion going, now actually aware of them, and watches a smile form in the Latino’s lips, before Leo presses even closer to him; _his _omega is so wonderfully warm. There’s a moment where all four of the still awake people in their weird circle all look at the sleeping figure with soft expressions of various levels; the next two sets of eyes level Nico with a heavier look, and the alpha has to tear his eyes way from Leo in order to pay attention to the two betas staring at him.

Travis is the one to talk first, voice soft, clearly mindful of Leo sleeping; which was good, because Nico thinks he would’ve done something unkind if he woke _his _omega up.

“So, how did this happen?”

That, Nico dreads, is gonna be a question he’ll have to answer a lot; granted, it’s a fair thing to ask, because he’s aware that if anyone told him this was going to happen two months ago he wouldn’t have believed it either. So he sighs, and decides he might as well make sense of it now, so it’ll be easier to say later.


	21. Veering towards fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, now we’re rolling again, finally getting to where I want to go with this story; stay tuned. Can you believe it’s a day before 2020? Bc I’m still reeling.  
Me *softly but with feeling*: Fuck cannon

When people think of limbo, it probably isn’t a crumpled, dark, empty, and humid place; it probably isn’t cold, and silent, and suffocating. The jar had been all those things, but in his state of not dead but certainly not alive, Nico could not refer to it as anything other than a limbo.

He doesn’t like thinking about that time any more than he likes to think about what happened later, the all-encompassing reality of having mixed blood, part human, part god. But the Argo II, imposing as it floated over waves, and later wind; that he remembered fondly despite of himself.

He remembers thinking it surprisingly smart, to build a vessel capable of traversing both through water and sky, even if the size didn’t seem particularly practical; and then he met the creator and self-appointed captain. At first he thought the son of Hephaestus was a fiery beta with too much of an inclination towards alpha, loud, and chipper, and reckless and annoying; he would learn his mistake later.

During a particular rough part of the trip, where he had to stick close and defend the other, while Leo tried to keep the Argo II flying evenly despite the barrage of stones being thrown at them time and time again; a quick exchange of sarcasm for frustration, the unmistakable hint of omega in Nico’s nose as Leo finally managed to boost them forwards and away from the reach of the boulders. For a breath taking moment their eyes met and something buzzed between them, similar to victory, the possible start of a connection; it was broken before it could really form, as Leo’s name was shouted in the wind, and the omega ducked down as though caught doing something shameful, and hurried away.

There were more moments like that, a flurry of almost, plenty of opportunities; how would the world have shifted had any been allowed to flourish beyond that? Would Nico have stopped Leo from careening downwards, stopping his descent towards death and rebirth before it started? Or would Leo have found a different cause to use the cure?

Nico tries not to think about that time in his life, particularly now, because the ‘what ifs’ coil around him, forming a sort of cage that looks suspiciously jar-like and reeks of pomegranates; and it’s a little offsetting, that the scent of that accursed fruit is now ingrained into his own. He’s the only alpha he knows with a fruity scent, most have stronger ones, like disinfectant, or like an oncoming storm, or like saltwater; but he finds it’s a lot more bearable on different skin, like on Hazel, or Reyna, or now Leo.

And there’s why Nico’s thinking about the quest of the seven, and the jar, and the Argo II, and the omega he forgot was one even if momentarily; a time where he had yet to find out that every person on that boat would play such important roles in his life.

He’s careful about his words, as he explains the length and intricacy of his feelings for Leo Valdez; and it’s a lot easier than he expects, drawing the lines between what almost happened and what did happen, connect the dots until the picture forms in his brain. And he surprises himself with the strength of it, with how safe it feels.

.-- .- -. - . -../- ---/- .-. -.--/… --- -- . - …. .. -. --./-.. .. ..-. ..-. . .-. . -. -

As cabin heads, the Stolls can’t join them in their trip.

“It’s better if we’re just the three anyways”

Selah is checking their supplies, it’s a two-day trip to Camp Jupiter, because since they only returned from the Underworld yesterday, Nico can’t exactly shadow travel them all the way there; he suggested maybe doing it in spurts, but Selah shot him down pretty quickly, something about her becoming fast friends with Hazel. Leo doesn’t question it, but he does find it amusing, particularly how Nico reacts to this new knowledge.

“Someone doesn’t want us teasing her in front of her crush”

Connor has that one smile on his face, like a joke hidden between lines, and it occurs to Leo only than that it’s been a while since he saw it last, back before they set of in the Argo II; and that’s wild. Selah arches her neck just so, as though challenging the beta.

“Implying you’d be brave enough to try”

Connor raises his hands in front of him, smile softening into something smaller.

“I value my life thanks”

Selah does a whole strut-like sort of move with her head that is so omega Leo gets an odd sense of jealousy.

“Thought so~”

Travis manages to bait her into some more banter, but Leo doesn’t get to listen because Nico pulls him slightly, away from them. 

“Hey uhm, you are aware that we might cross paths with her, right?”

The amount of legit concern coming from him in waves makes Leo swoon internally; but it also makes him feel a little guilty, so he decides to reassure _his _alpha.

“How cool are you with spite?”

Nico makes a face.

“It’s my greatest weakness”

Leo’s tongue is faster than his brain.

“I thought that was rancor”

Nico makes an entire expression, and Leo worries for a moment that he fucked up, but then _his _alpha huffs.

“Tomato, tomato”

Leo smiles sheepishly at him, partly relieved even though he knows Nico will ask eventually; he’s dreading that future conversation.

“Mine’s insecurity”

There, even ground, and it’s kind of dazing, how Nico nearly instinctively reaches for him with a look of shock and something else, something fiercer; clearly the alpha has made a decision of sorts.


	22. The Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so, full disclosure, I’m not sure how well it’s gonna go, but this chapter will have someone try to bite Leo without consent, which is by Omegaverse terms a type of rape; there’s also gonna be miss-use of alpha commands, and some threats, and some violence (but that’ll be a little more on par with how the Riordan-verse works). So please keep that in mind while reading, and if you want a summary of what happens without those details, I will provide it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me to me: You have to write the drama  
Me to me (responding): But it’s HARD!!
> 
> This is certainly a way to start the new decade.

Selah thought spending an entire two days on the road with Leo and Nico would be, like, the longest time she’d ever spend third-wheeling, but about half an hour later she was reminded of the fact that they weren’t some teenagers on a road trip, and Nico particularly had a huge ass target on him.

Nico turns his skull ring and out comes his black sword, Leo digs his entire forearm in one of the pockets of his tool-belt and pulls out an entire Warhammer like it weights nothing; Selah takes out her cutlass and one of the potion filled water balloons she has in her magic satchel, and then chaos.

It’s not actually her first time fighting monsters, and she’s quick enough on her feet that she can try remembering names and weaknesses, but she has nothing on the other two. It’s easy to remember then, that Nico and Leo didn’t just have experience fighting monsters, but also fighting side by side; it’s almost like a dance.

They’re synchronized to their very breath, Selah know because every time Nico inhales at her right, Leo is exhaling at her left; and they weave around her masterfully too, so used to having to improvise with other people, so used to fighting. She notes that the earth shakes around Nico like it’s about to shatter, she notes that Leo’s followed by a trail of smoke but not fire; she has yet to see him use it once, and can only reach the conclusion that there’s a reason behind that decision.

She refuses to ask, to pry, wants to be told willingly; wonders how many people have given Leo that much. The echo of ‘_never even tried to help me during a heat, not once_’ running through her head; was that true for other things too? How many things had gone ignored, if his nature could be one of them?

She can’t think about it now, as they fight their way to Camp Jupiter, keeping to the highways, away from the towns unless absolutely necessary. She miss-steps, can’t quite fall into pace with the other two; they are so close when it happens.

One minute they she was swirling on the heel of her foot, hand digging at her satchel for purchase, the next she’s being pushed aside; and when she regains her footing it’s already too late, Leo’s held against the monster, a werewolf, and there are claws pointed at his heart.

-… . --. .. -. -. .. -. --./ --- ..-./-. .. --. …. - -- .- .

Time slows down, not really, Nico knows better, but it feels like it does.

They had been so close, to the point that if they cross the tree line they’ll see Camp Jupiter’s wall, to the point that this is the last monster between them and safety. But the worst part isn’t any of those facts, it’s the bile that climbs up Nico’s throat as he realizes the familiarity of this scene; that is what makes it feel like time has slowed down.

He’s not actually close enough, but he swears he hears it as the werewolf takes a sniff; he is however, very much capable of seeing that sickening expression.

“Well now, this is interesting”

Dread, he can’t deal with dread right now.

“I wonder what’ll hurt more, your death, or…”

The growl is out of his mouth before he can stop it, no! he can’t deal with instincts either. The werewolf laughs, something sick and twisted.

“Very well”

Think! What can you do? How do you stop this?

“**Bare your neck for me omega**”

He notices Selah, slightly behind him, and when had he moved? But she arches her neck almost in synchrony with Leo, like she can’t help herself, and oh…

“**Take that pesky collar off**”

Leo’s eyes meet his

_He would hate him_

His arms start raising, hands going for his neck.

_But if he did nothing he would lose him._

His right hand clasps around the silver ‘N’, the only reason the werewolf can’t touch it.

_Nico was tired of being robbed of happiness. _

“**Leo light up**”

Selah gasps, as though something had been choking her and she can now breathe, and Leo… Leo goes aflame. The werewolf jumps away, screaming on the top of his lungs, and Nico’s legs finally move.

The anger that seizes him as he reaches the monster is unmeasurable, whatever mercy he’s capable of has all but left him; he wants the asshole to suffer, takes particular glee in the fact that his soul will become trapped in his sword. He stabs, and slashes, until there’s nothing but dust in the floor, and he’s panting; he takes one, two, three, four deep breaths, before he even thinks about turning around and looking at the two omegas he’s travelling with.

He notes that they’re both shaking, Selah’s just slightly better, arms curled around herself tight enough that her knuckles are white; Leo is looking at his hands and then he looks directly at Nico, and lets out the most painful sort of sound. The alpha is at his side in seconds, and is hit with a wave of relief when Leo immediately curls into him, he’s a little warmer than usual, but otherwise fine.

He holds his omega for a few moments, just until his scent loses the hint of smoke, and then he looks at Selah, who has stopped shaking but is still holding herself; he offers her a hand, his other arm still around Leo.

“Come on, I have enough for a short jump”

Selah gives him the most thankful look, and promptly takes his hand; she looks briefly surprised before the shadows swallow all of them.

\- ... .- -/ .-- .- .../.-- .. .-.. -..

Reyna is walking with Hazel, doing their normal rounds, when there’s an unusual commotion; they exchange looks and hurry towards the sound, to find Nico in the middle of a crowd, with two omegas clinging to him, all three look shaken to their core.

Reyna’s heartbeat quickens at seeing Selah again after so long, but the scent of fear comes heavily from her and Leo; so she quickly utilizes her ‘praetor tone’ to get the crowd to disperse, and approaches the three demigods carefully. Thankfully, Nico’s reaction to her seems to be one of relief, as he gives a tired smile.

“These two need somewhere quiet”

Leo buries himself further into Nico, and Selah’s fingers go almost white where she's holding onto Nico's hand; if Nico’s bothered by either action he does nothing to show it, instead giving Reyna a very pointed look.

“Also some comfort”

She notices then, the glint around Leo’s neck, how Nico is holding him just as tightly, and a smile forms in her face; she’ll have to bring it up eventually.

“Ok, you can explain later”


	23. Spinning wheels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi, hello, για! We’re kind of heading towards the end, like, I still have to do a thing before I close this up for good; but you know…  
I made the boys very affectionate, which is probably out of character, until you remember me implying that they’ve been suppressing this for ages, so like, I think it’s justified.

Nico waited until the two omegas were asleep before he explained what happened, starting from the day of the confrontation TM, and the explanation of the dream, and how he knew it was about to happen.

He was reluctant to leave Leo’s side in particular, but also worried about Selah being alone, so all three were sitting close to the sleeping omegas. Hazel can’t really blame him, not after hearing the whole thing, and when the opportunity arises, she decides to try changing the subject.

“So, you and Leo”

Nico glances at the omega curled around him for a moment, biting his lip.

“I’m never gonna hear the end of this”

Hazel thinks that he hadn’t really meant to say it out loud, mainly because he says it under his breath, and she only hears it because they’re being quiet. It’s kind of amusing, because he definitely got that from someone else; and Hazel thinks she could safely win a bet over who it was.

“It kind of started back on the Argo II”

Hazel couldn’t have stopped the confusion from showing on her face if she tried; Nico made a face but continued.

“Or well, back then it was more like a bunch of moments, but nothing actually ever happened”

He flushes a little, looking anywhere but at her and Reyna, and it’s not embarrassment, but something else; she knows when his hands turn to fists at his side, away from Leo’s sleeping form.

“I sort of pushed it aside, particularly after the whole brief death stunt, but it never really left”

Nico looks at Leo then, and it’s sort of wondrous how every part of him seems to soften, like something settled inside him.

“It was less falling, and more realizing I was already on the floor”

There’s a smile on his face, one that Hazel had only seen very few times, something indescribably fond; and his hand brushes over the omega’s necklace.

“What made you finally confess?”

Hazel is suddenly very glad for Reyna, because she could actually ask the questions Hazel had, and then take a glare for Nico like it was nothing; granted, Reyna had far more experience dealing with alphas.

“The cyclopes thought we were together, Leo said he wanted to be, and I followed after him when he tried to run away”

He sounds happy, smile firmly on his lips, his hand now trailing Leo’s curls as the omega purrs softly in his sleep. Hazel thinks he might be in love, and hopes it’s reciprocated.

.-- …. . .-. ./.-- .- …/../--. --- .. -. --./.-- .. - …./- …. .. … ..--..

Selah is the first to wake up, which is to be expected considering she was the least affected of the two; her head whirls around for a moment before her eyes settle on Reyna and she relaxes. Then she looks to where Nico and Leo are, both sleeping, curled around the other; kind of like that first time, and Selah smiles at Reyna.

“Did you know Nico’s an ice cube?”

It feels nice, to see her this animated, so Reyna plays along.

“I did”

Selah’s smile widens, like she’s about to tell a joke but can’t completely suppress her laughter, it’s adorable.

“Leo’s a furnace”

Reyna feels a smile of her own, unable to resist joining her, Selah shuffles just slightly closer, still sounding way too amused.

“Temperature equilibrium”

And then she’s laughing, quietly, barely making a sound, but looking as though she thinks it’s the funniest thing ever; Reyna is suddenly reminded of Nico’s words, because they fell very accurate right now.

Selah stops laughing, but the smile remains on her lips as she makes an offhand motion to the sleeping pair.

“These two will probably be out for a bit longer”

Reyna nods, gets on her feet and steels herself.

“Would you like me to show you around”

Selah smiles brilliantly at her, and Reyna feels less like she’s falling, more like she’s already on the ground.

“I’d love that”

… …. --- .-. -/-… --- -. ..- …

The first thing Nico says to Leo when they wake up is an apology, or rather a string of them: ‘sorry I didn’t do something sooner’, ‘sorry you had to go through that’, ‘sorry I used a command on you’, ‘sorry I forced you to use fire’. Leo responds to each one steadily, ‘you couldn’t have’, ‘not your fault’; he repeats that last bit as he cradles Nico’s face in his hands, makes the alpha look at him.

“You _saved_ me, Nico, I…”

He has to look away for a second because the intensity of Nico’s eyes right now is a little much, not to say that Leo dislikes it, he’s just, still getting used to the fact that the alpha he’s absolutely gone for actually likes him back.

“Thank you”

He puts as much sincerity on it as he can, so that maybe they won’t talk about this again, so that Nico fully understands that Leo doesn’t blame him one bit. It must get through because his alpha moves to gently pull his hands away, kisses each one almost reverently, Leo takes it as him accepting Leo’s decision.


	24. Closure, part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanted Leo and Reyna being friends, and so here we are.  
This one’s short, and the one that follows will probably be too, because I want to finish this, but I want to do so gently.

If someone had told her at the beginning of the year that she would find herself sitting with Leo Valdez in one of the few private places of Camp Jupiter by Autumn; she would’ve been hard pressed to believe them, and yet here she was.

Aurum is sitting properly at her side, while Argentum is curled almost protectively around Leo’s left; she wonders if the dog knows what happened when he doesn’t stop the omega from petting him. Leo takes his time thinking, not that Reyna minds, he’s methodical to a fault, she’s learned; and given the nature of what she’s asking of him, she appreciates it.

She notes he does a particular pattern against the Argentum’s silver back, and smiles to himself for a moment before sighing.

“I mean, I’ve kind of been falling for Nico since we rescued him from the jar, so I don’t know how much help I’ll be”

Reyna must make a face because Leo lifts his hands in front of him, as though trying to appease her, which is a little amusing.

“In my defense, I only realized I was crushing on him recently, considering everything that happened back then”

She makes a mental note when he doesn’t mention Calypso by name, though she doesn’t blame him; though Leo’s clearly very happy right now, it doesn’t mean that particular wound isn’t still very much fresh. Reyna asks a different question; one she hopes will help her see things from a different perspective.

“How did you realize it then?”

Leo arches an eyebrow, but makes a motion with his head like he thinks it a fair question; he looks away from her, a little ashamed, and she knows what moment he’s going to talk about already.

“Yesterday wasn’t the first time Nico’s saved me from another alpha”

Nico had told her about the fight with Will, and about why he’d felt like taking Leo away was the best call; Reyna had agreed with him back then. Leo talks about the night a little different, explaining that he’d been trying to get some water as a last moment effort to have some sort of comfort during his heat, and that he hadn’t meant to stumble into them, and how scared he’d been when he had.

“I made a noise without meaning to, and when they turned to me I…”

He looked at Reyna then, a weird sort of smile on his lips, like he found the situation amusing now, but hadn’t before.

“You know when you’re facing a monster and there’s a split second when your fight and flight instincts fight for control? Like that but longer”

He chuckles a little, and Reyna feels a little glad that he can talk about it with humor.

“Nico knocked him out cold with a single punch, and then he took me away from there”

And she sees the humor of it now, because it feels very on track with Nico’s protective track, only the alpha hadn’t realized why he was reacting like that with Leo; it’s kind of funny but not really.

“And then he stayed to help me with my heat, and consoled me after the confrontation, and it just, it hit me like crash landing into a fountain”

Reyna blinks at him.

“I’m sure there’s a story behind that”

Leo laughs, nodding his head.

“It’s how I got into Ogygia the first time”

His laugh is incredibly contagious, and it’s kind of ridiculous that they’re here now, so Reyna finds herself joining him for a moment. When they calm down Leo gives him a soft sort of smile.

“I wasted a lot of opportunities with Nico back then, and like, maybe that’s what was meant to happen”

He makes a motion with his hands that reminds her of Nico, and that brings a smile to her, because she’s noticed Nico tapping his fingers the way Leo does; and it’s kind of adorable that they’re absorbing each other’s quirks.

“And I’m pretty sure you’ve done the same with her, so why not this one?”

And it’s so simple when he says it like that, so obvious; and it comes from a place of experience, so his words ring true to her, they sound right. Reyna thinks they should talk more often, she feels like they’re on level with each other; she kind of wants to take his very methodical mind for a spin over plans, is nearly certain he would smooth her roman battalions into finely tuned gears, wants to see it happen.

“Ok, I think you’re right”

Leo grins at her, accomplished; yeah, she’ll have to ask next time.

\- .... .- -/..-. . .-.. -/-.-. .- - .... .- .-. - .. -.-.

Leo gives him a giddy smile when they meet up again to go have lunch with Hazel and Frank, like he’s got something up his sleeve, leaning into him with mirth shining in his eyes. Nico just has to kiss him, because he’s being cute, and the alpha can’t handle it; Leo chirps into the kiss, and Nico can’t stop the smile from forming in his lips, pulling away reluctantly.

“You’re happy”

Leo makes another chirp, pecking him on the cheek.

“I think Reyna’s gonna ask Selah out, finally”

Nico laughs then, because he sounds so happy, Leo arches an eyebrow at him, looking amused.

“What?”

Nico huffs a fond breath.

“You’re a romantic”

Leo makes a motion with his head that makes his neck arch just so, collar glistening under the sunlight, and Nico has to swallow in order to not get absolutely distracted.

“Considering how much effort I put into getting into a relationship, me being a romantic should come as no surprise”

Then he looks away, hands still around Nico’s neck, so wonderfully warm.

“That’s ok, right?”

Nico softens immediately, moving to nose at the exposed bit of skin, and it’s wonderful how easily their scents mix.

“I don’t know how well I’ll be able to respond”

Leo chuckles against him, as he curls close and noses him back.

“Come on, Haze and Frank are waiting for us”

Nico sighs, taking one last good sniff before he pulls fully away, or well, not really, he keeps his hand tangled with Leo’s, and leads his omega in the right direction. Leo is quick to match him, and soon they’re walking side by side; he can see his omega smiling brightly, and is sure he’s making the same expression.


	25. Closure, part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I really should’ve gotten into it before, but Frank strikes me as a beta with omega leanings, so I wanted to sparkle a little of that into the end, since I had the perfect excuse. Also, while both Stoll brothers are beta, I figured Connor would eventually come out as like trans-alpha; both of which would’ve needed a lot more time than what I gave this story.  
I had fun.

Frank has to admit that he’s been waiting for this, like, he’s heard the entire thing from Hazel, so he isn’t out of the loop or anything, but there’s a difference between secondhand tales and actually getting the story from the source. So yeah, he’s dying to see Nico and Leo as Nico and Leo, because that’s sort of… ok, so Frank can absolutely see it, the two falling together like puzzle pieces, he can actually make full sense of it; so that’s not the thing, the thing is that he still wants to know the how and the when.

Frank also really wants to see Leo’s collar, he’s always thought omega collars were pretty, but with both himself and Hazel being betas, neither had use for one; like, it would be weird for her to buy him one, right? But Hazel said Leo’s collar was beautiful, so Frank’s all levels of curious. The funny thing is that despite everything Hazel’s told him, and how much Frank believes in it, he still gets a little surprised when Leo and Nico reach their table holding hands.

Leo waves at them in greeting, while Nico gives them a simple nod, and then they both sit in front of them. Hazel was right about the collar, the clean black and vibrant red really fit Leo, and seem to accentuate the silver ‘N’ in the center; it’s a very bold claim, one Leo wears proudly, and maybe it’s prettier specifically because of that.

Soon they are being filled in on everything that happened, Nico and Leo looking at each other when commenting on some particular bit; they’re a little giggly, and clearly gone for each other. Frank realizes with a bit of a start that he’s never seen them this happy, a bit because he was aware of it on Nico’s account, but realizing this is his first time seeing Leo like this is a little ground shaking.

It puts things into perspective, makes it easier to make sense of Leo’s claim that no, he wasn’t actually ok with how things were, he wasn’t happy; Frank knows Leo doesn’t blame him particularly, because he wasn’t exactly close to the omega, but he can be. He can be, and as Leo spins the tale of his little adventure in the Underworld, something impossibly fond in his tone; Frank decides he will be.

.- .-.. .-. . .- -.. -.--/-- -./- …. ./--. .-. --- ..- -. --.

There’s a weird sort of energy to the space between her and Reyna when she meets the beta again that day, after she had her talk with Leo; Selah wonders if maybe it was more of a shovel talk, which is an amusing idea.

Reyna doesn’t look angry, but she doesn’t look particularly happy either, it takes Selah a moment to fully get the whole picture actually; she’s nervous. It makes her own nerves jump to attention, because what could Reyna of all people possibly be nervous about; clearly something big must’ve happened.

So now they’re both nervous, and the weird energy between them increases tenfold, and no one’s happy. And then Reyna takes a deep breath, and Selah copies her almost instinctively, and something un-tenses between them.

Reyna stands tall, like she’s trying to present herself the way alpha’s do, and it sends Selah’s heart in a flurry, her inner omega all but swooning. She somehow manages to reel it in so it doesn’t show on her face, she’s gone this long without getting caught, it’d be silly to let herself go now; even if this feels like something.

That particular feeling is dangerous, the energy between them is dangerous, because if Selah’s mistaken, if she’s reading Reyna wrong, she will be the only one hurt; no, that’s not exactly right. She’s good friends with Leo, and Leo and Reyna are now friends because of what happened, and also thanks to Nico, so anything bad happening between them would also affect those two; and Selah doesn’t want to affect them, they deserve to be happy.

But doesn’t she deserve to be happy too? Is that too selfish of a request? She knows she can’t lay something like that on a single person, and she’s not; it’s more than her feelings for Reyna, Selah wants to keep Leo and Nico in her life too. She wants love, sure, but she also wants friends, and crazy adventures, and the feeling of being connected to others, a part of something; Selah wants to be important to a select few who are important to her too.

Maybe she’s being naïve, maybe she’s being greedy…

Reyna takes a step forward, and the world slows down a little, just enough that Selah is breathing again.

“I was wondering”

She maintains eye contact, which is maybe a little bit unnerving, but Selah feels very seen, which is… a feeling.

“If you’re free, I’d like you to go out with me”

Suddenly she’s fully aware of a feeling that’s been growing under her skin for longer than she cares to admit, as now it’s bigger than her body, impossible to contain; she wonders what it looks like to _her_.

“Like a date?”

She sounds way too hopeful, which is a little pathetic, but then Reyna’s curling a tuft of beautiful dark hair behind her ear, and Selah is gone; she still manages to catch the response though.

“If you want it to be”

Selah takes a step back and goes through an entire monologue on her mind about how she’s an omega, and she knows it’s the 21st century and the stereotype of omegas not calling the shots in relationships is bullshit, but also Selah has never been asked out before, never got a valentine, or a secret admirer; and really, how could she call this when she’s been pining through Gaia’s rising, and the entire aftermath, but also-

Reyna looks ten levels of nervous, and two seconds away from resigning her offer, and that’s, no, Selah can’t let that happen; she may or may not grab her arm with both hands.

“Yes!”

Also, she may or may not have yelled that full volume, which is, actually really loud, like surprisingly loud for her size, she’s been told. She feels twenty levels of embarrassed, and flustered, and two seconds from calling Nico so he can open a crack straight to Hades for her to fall into.

And then Reyna smiles, bright, and beautiful, and just for her; Selah could write an entire stage play for that smile, it would suck because she’s the least artistic person ever, a lot more into chemistry, really. So she’s got Reyna’s arm in a death grip, and Reyna’s smiling at her, and Selah is probably smiling too, but that foolish, absolutely lovesick, type of grin; what a picture they make.

Selah slowly, carefully, let’s go of Reyna, trying to not shrivel up entirely under her very direct, very much glowing, beautiful brown eyes.

“I would really like to go out with you”

Reyna’s smile softens, as does her entire posture, and the smile she gives Selah is one she’ll treasure forever.

“Perfect- I mean, me too”

Selah laughs because oh gods, how is it that she’s the one to make _her_ lose composure? She feels like she could get blown by the breeze. She gives Reyna the widest smile, hoping she never stops feeling like this.

“Perfect”

The end.


End file.
